"Just do our best" in the teachings of yoga

Just like everything else, "Just do our best" can be interpreted differently by different people with different understanding. Positive minds interpret it positively and negative minds interpret it negatively, while minds that have transcended positive and negative interpret it as it is, neither positive nor negative. "Do our best" under a competitive background might mean differently from the teachings of yoga.

In the competitive world, some people propagate "Don't just do your best, but go beyond what you think is your best." While some people propagate "Don't just go beyond your best, but go beyond other people's best."

What is best or what is the limitation in everyone is very different from one another. In the teachings of yoga, one can never compare with one another, but just do one's best at one's own pace.

"Just do our best" in the teachings of yoga means - Whatever we do, we do our best without forcing the body and mind beyond its limitation in the present moment now, and without attachment or identification towards our actions and the fruit of actions, without expectation towards the fruit of actions has to be or not to be in certain way, allowing the fruit of actions to be what it is, as it is, without being determined or affected by the actions or the fruit of actions, and more importantly, all are impermanent. The fruit of actions might not be the way that we think how it should be, even after we did our best, and it's okay.

It's about performing all actions without attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, judgment, comparison and expectation, and just do what is possible while letting go what is impossible in the present moment now, and what is possible and impossible in the present moment now is impermanent. There are different elements determining whether something is possible or not possible in the present moment now. It's not about achieving certain result under certain aspiration or intention and 'I' want to achieve it now, and it's definitely not about pushing the body and mind to the point of breaking down in order to gratify our desire of achieving something.

Maybe the body is ready, but the mind is not ready. Maybe the mind is ready, but the body is not ready. Maybe the body and the mind are both ready, but the condition of the space for something to happen is not ready. Maybe the body and the mind and the condition of the space are all ready, but it's not the right timing yet. Other than the ability of non-attachment, non-identification and non-expectation, the elements of patience, determination, perseverance, tolerance, acceptance, adjustment, adaptation and accommodation, play an important role in "Just do our best".

Some people become more relaxed while be able to work efficiently and achieving more by implementing "Just do our best" in everything that they do, as they are aware of and understand what is the limitation of their body and mind as well as knowing what is possible and impossible according to the current condition and situation in the present moment.

While some people become more tensed and unable to work efficiently under the term of "Just do our best" as either they have no awareness or understanding towards what is the limitation of their body and mind and don't know what is possible or impossible in the current condition and situation in the present moment, or, for some people coming from different background, "Do our best" means pushing the body and mind beyond their current limitation until they break down (the do or die mentality of keep fighting until you drop,) or else, they are not doing their best.

Some people feel that they were being judged by other people's encouragement to them by telling them to "Just do your best, without pushing the body and mind beyond its limitation", as they feel that they were being criticized for trying too hard. While some people feel that they were being judged by other people's encouragement to them by telling them to "Do your best", as they feel that they are being criticized for being not good enough, for haven't done their best yet or not trying hard enough, that they need to try harder than what they can do now. But these encouragements containing the term of "Do your best" have no intention to judge anyone as trying too hard, or not trying hard enough.

All these reactions of "I am being judged" or "I am under attack" when hearing other people saying to them about "Do your best" are merely coming from the highly defensive egoistic mind itself, being sensitive and offensive due to the mind reacts according to how the mind perceives and interprets everything under the influence of defensiveness.

There are quite many minds experienced certain undesirable experiences in the past where they felt hurt, and continuing to feel hurt by some unpleasant 'hurtful' experiences, because they don't know how to free themselves from being determined by the past undesirable experiences, that make them become highly defensive and sensitive towards everything that they experience in the present moment now.

The minds that have correct understanding towards what is going on in the mind, they won't perceive or interpret those terms or any terms as a form of judgment or attack. And even if there's intentional judgment or attack coming from some others towards them, they won't feel offended, as they are not being determined or disturbed by the mind perception of names and forms, because they know what is non-attachment, non-identification, non-craving, non-aversion, non-judgment, non-comparison and non-expectation, while allowing everyone to think and judge or express and behave as they are, allowing all kinds of names and forms to be there as they are.

And hence, to truly help the minds that felt hurt and continuously feeling hurt by something 'hurtful' in the past, it's not about offering to heal what they think is a painful mental/emotional wound existing in their minds and comforting these minds with the things that they like to see, hear, smell, taste, touch, feel and think, to make them feel good momentarily, but it's guiding them in the way that allows them to look into their own minds, to see the truth of those hurtful feelings and what is going on in their minds, that will allow them to be free from being determined by the past experiences upon knowing the truth of what is going on in their minds, where there is no mental/emotional wound existing in their minds that needs to be healed, but merely a continuous stream of impermanent thought activities arising and passing away selflessly deriving from ignorance and egoism of attachment, identification, and ungratified desires and expectations. Neither do they need any comforting treatment of sympathetic/empathetic actions and words from anyone to feel better, as they won't feel hurt anymore once they realized the truth of what is going on in their minds, regardless of something that they experienced in the past or something that they are experiencing now.

Those who understand this, there's no need to be strong, no need to be positive, no need to forgive and let go anything, and no need to be healed, as the selfless mind cannot be hurt upon knowing Thyself.

The minds that don't know Thyself, that are under the influence of ignorance and egoism, where there's an idea of 'I', generates attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, judgment and expectation, they would perceive hurt, and hence, they think and believe that they need to be strong, need to be positive, need to forgive and let go something that they perceived and judged as something 'hurtful', and there's existing painful mental/emotional wounds that need to be healed.

Inquire the truth of everything.

Correct understanding towards the challenging mind purification process

The challenging mind purification process deriving from intense serious yoga and meditation practice is neither good nor bad.

If the truth of something is 'good', then everyone who experience that something will all have the same 'good' reaction towards that something 'good'.

If the truth of something is 'bad', then everyone who experience that something will all have the same 'bad' reaction towards that something 'bad'.

If the truth of something is just what it is, where it's neither good nor bad, but based on different people have different understanding and limitation, everyone who experience that something will have their own subjective personal reaction towards that something. For the same thing, some will react in a good way, where they think, feel and judge that it's something good. While some will react in a bad way, where they think, feel and judge that it's something bad.

For example, the existence of medicine. Medicine is neither useful nor useless, neither good nor bad. It serves a particular purpose to counter certain illness in certain way. Some people react in a good way towards taking a particular medicine and are getting better from taking that medicine, while some other people react in a bad way towards taking the same medicine and are not getting any better but might be getting worst from taking that medicine. The truth of that medicine is that it's neither good nor bad. If it's really something good, then everyone who take that same medicine will react in a good way without any bad reaction. If it's really something bad, then everyone who take that same medicine will react in a bad way without any good reaction at all.

It's the same as any kinds of names and forms, of different objects and activities that all and everyone might come in contact with and experience.

The co-existence of certain venomous insects or animals in our surrounding living environment, are neither something good nor bad. It's about whether people can find their own way to either live in a space free from any venomous insects or animals, or they can learn how to make some adaptation and adjustment to be able to live in an environment sharing the living space with some venomous insects or animals.

The intense prolonged silent meditation practice and the mind purification process is just what it is. It's neither something good nor bad, even when one of the common effect of the prolonged silent meditation practice where the mind is being restrained from its usual behavior habit would ignite intense mind purification process that might appear to be 'painful' and 'confusing' for many passionate egoistic minds.

Some people who have developed certain degrees of dispassion and non-attachment will know how to confront with any challenging names and forms, and go beyond all those challenging purification process, being undetermined or unaffected by the purification process, and attaining greater 'understanding' beyond the limited understanding or egoistic reaction of the conditional thinking mind. While some people don't have the basic foundation of dispassion and non-attachment, where they don't know how to go beyond those challenging purification process, and are being determined, affected and over-whelmed by the challenging 'painful' and 'confusing' purification process, as these minds are still being conditioned very much by the limited understanding and egoistic reaction of the conditional thinking mind functioning under the influence of certain worldly egoistic thinking and belief.

It's not the responsibility of the meditation practice for how people react differently towards the effect of the practice, where some people have good reaction while some people have bad reaction upon going through the similar degrees of purification process. It's how different minds with different state of mind that come with different understanding and reaction or behavior pattern react differently towards the effect of the intense silent meditation practice.

Those who are suffering from depression, or clinical mental illness, or hallucination, or intoxication addiction, are not allowed to attend intense silent meditation retreat. While there might be many people are not aware of themselves are suffering from certain degrees of mental illness, as they can still live everyday life having a 'normal' social life of family and friends.

While going through intense mind purification process can either free the mind from ignorance and suffering deriving from ignorance, not to say, all kinds of mental blockage practically under the correct understanding with the practice of dispassion, non-attachment, non-identification and non-association, or it would trigger unexpected mental/emotional breakdown, which is common and healthy on the path of yoga and meditation, but for the worldly passionate minds, it can be over-whelming and disturbing, and hence, it's being seen as something bad, wrong, unhealthy and mad. These minds would put the blame onto the practice of silent meditation practice as the cause of their physical/mental/emotional discomfort and pain due to the mind purification process. The minds that have correct understanding will understand that all discomfort and pain during the purification process is just an inevitable process that everyone has to go through by oneself on the path of yoga and meditation.

It's like to eradicate 'cancer growth' from the physical body, the operation procedure of removing the cancer growth is inevitable, but the process of the operation where the body is being cut open exposing flesh and blood, and the look of the cancer growth might appear to be disgusting and painful for many people.

Intense serious silent yoga and meditation practice is sort of like performing layer and layer of operation onto the mind by none others but oneself. There are lots of disgusting and painful stuffs need to be exposed/released and be removed. It's like a deep cleaning process for a rubbish bin that has been accumulating layer and layer of stubborn smelly disgusting stains. It's an inevitable process. Most people don't like to go near a smelly disgusting rubbish bin, not to say, to be cleaning the bin thoroughly by themselves.

Most minds might prefer not to go near, not to say, to expose or remove any disgusting and painful stuffs that they don't want to confront with, by themselves, and want to believe that they are perfectly fine as they are, especially those who believe in a 'God existence' that is responsible for everything, and will bless them with everything good and take away anything bad, if they pray hard enough, that there's nothing that need to be removed/purified from their minds urgently by themselves, where they either think and believe that they are free from ignorance and impurities, or they are okay with the presence of ignorance and impurities, that they are not interested to be free from ignorance and impurities. And that's their freedom.

Even Siddhartha Gautama Buddha was not being exempted from had to go through great challenging purification process prior to his enlightenment.

Of course, none need to compare oneself with any others on the path of self-inquiry and self-realization. But then, once the mind has the correct understanding, it won't put the blame onto the practice and judge the effect of the practice as something 'bad', but instead, the mind will appreciate all those deep buried disgusting and painful stuffs being exposed and released to the surface of the mind, to let them go.

It's just that the path of yoga and meditation for self-inquiry and self-realization might not be suitable for the minds that have not yet developed certain degrees of dispassion and non-attachment.

Those who are strongly attaching towards the mind perception of a worldly life existence, and have strong identification towards the physical body and the thinking mind under the influence of certain passionate egoistic thinking and belief as who they are, where they think and believe that the terms such as 'the death of oneself or the death of loved ones', 'illness', 'pain', 'injury', 'old age', 'aloneness' and 'separation from the loved ones' are something bad, negative and terrible, where they expect only momentary desirable and enjoyable pleasant effects deriving from performing some leisure yoga and meditation practice, who are not mentally and emotionally stable and independent, who expect receiving miracle healing from somebody to remove all their painful suffering, who expect all their desires will come true under the blessing of somebody, who have aspiration for acquiring miracle power that can make the impossible to become possible or to change the world according to their desire, who have lots of passionate worldly/spiritual desire waiting to be fulfilled, they might not be suitable for serious yoga and meditation practice where going through stages of challenging unpleasant mind purification process (to confront with 'things' that the mind fears most) is inevitable for anyone on the path, unless they are ready to admit the ignorance and impurities in the mind and to confront with 'what they have been rejecting most'.

And hence, the importance of looking after one's mind before the mind loses the basic stability and clarity to have the essential reasoning and understanding that allows the mind to know and transcend itself.

During the purification process, not just that there are unpleasant names and forms arising and passing away, but there are also some pleasant names and forms arising and passing away, where the observer of all these names and forms observing all these pleasant and unpleasant names and forms coming and going equanimously, without attachment, without craving or aversion.

It's everyone's freedom for what they want and don't want to do with their life existence of the body and the perceptive/cognitive/assertive/subjective intellectual egoistic thinking mind.

Inquire the truth of everything.

Ignorance, the mind, and the purification process

The perception of the suffering from inevitable restlessness of selfless impermanent changes gives rise to the desire to know the cause of suffering.

Knowing ignorance is the root cause of suffering and being aware of ignorance in this mind initiates the yearning of seeking liberation from ignorance.

Seek not for enlightenment from other than within.

Look within, and this mind will see how the veil of ignorance is deceiving this perceptive cognitive intellectual egoistic thinking faculty all the time.

To seek the truth from within, this mind must first be able to be unattached towards the modification of the mind, or what it thinks and identifies as "I and the world of everything that I perceive in my life existence", then, it needs to engage in certain training or practice that help to calm down or restrain the ever restless modification of the mind, where it's a prolonged and intense purification process.

The restless modification of the mind is nothing but gross and subtle attachment and desire. Upon the complete annihilation of gross and subtle attachment and desire, there is no mind activity, but only pure consciousness.

Without dispassion and renunciation from the worldly affair, relationship, connection, interaction and activity that is being empowered by and empowering ignorance and egoism at the same time, it's extremely difficult for the mind to be non-attaching, non-identifying and non-associating with the modification of the mind or the perception of life existence, and couldn't detach from the thought process that gives rise to the delusive but concrete idea of 'I' existing as an individual being and everything that 'I' perceive, experience, interact and connect with, where 'I' am of and belonging to certain qualities of names and forms, where 'I' possess and continuously accumulating and possessing certain qualities of names and forms, where all these names and forms are determining 'I' for being what and who 'I' am.

Out of survival instinct, there's root desire for safeguarding and procreation, where animals or human beings gather in a community and create a territory of their own. Renunciation from the worldly community and connection of family, relatives and friends, of observing silence in seclusion and solitude and self-reliance is extremely 'insane', 'bad' and 'wrong' for the minds that are being conditioned deeply by the egoistic behavior pattern and way of living under the influence of survival instinct.

All kinds of worldly connection and relationship of ancestry, tribe, race, community, family, relatives and friends determining "what and who 'I' am" for the mind under the veil of ignorance. It's unthinkable or wrong for the mind towards the truth of Selflessness, where there's no permanent individual being existence of 'I', not to say, all kinds of momentary connection and relationship are not what or who 'I' am.

The selfless impermanent modifications of the mind, where there's a continuous stream of thinking thinks it exists as an individual being, where there's a perceiver perceiving the perceived, where selfless impermanent thoughts, cognition, memories, imaginations, actions, reactions, feelings and emotions arising and passing away ceaselessly, where the perceptive intellectual assertive thinking faculty perceives names and forms through the senses of the selfless impermanent physical body, all are not what or who 'I' am.

Out of ignorance, there's intense attachment. From attachment, there are different identifications with certain selfless impermanent names and forms, there's boundless desire of craving and aversion, there's subjective judgment and comparison, there's intention and expectation, there's inspiration and aspiration, there's ceaseless action and reaction and the consequences of action and reaction, there's longing and clinging, there's anger, hurt, disappointment, fear and worry due to ungratified desires, and there's inevitable suffering deriving from endless dissatisfaction and restlessness due to the nature of all the names and forms is impermanence and selflessness.

All THESE are nothing but selfless impermanent manifestation within the modification of the mind.

Mind purification to eradicate all THESE is essential for Self-realization, to be free from ignorance and suffering deriving from ignorance.

Except for those minds that already be equipped with dispassion and non-attachment, it's greatly difficult for the passionate sympathetic/empathetic minds that never get a chance to move away from the worldly affair, connection, relationship, interaction and activity, to be unattached towards all kinds of mind perception of names and forms, especially all kinds of connection and relationship, to be free from identifications and desires, to allow the mind to have the chance to be quiet.

The passionate sympathetic/empathetic minds are being conditioned to be disturbed by the sense of guilt, wrongfulness, loneliness, weakness and meaninglessness towards renouncing worldly affair, connection, relationship, interaction and activity, to observe silence in seclusion and solitude for a prolonged period of time.

The passionate minds that have intense attachment of craving and clinging towards the presence of connection, relationship, interaction and activity with 'some other beings' that give rise to the sense of love, joy, acknowledgement, appreciation and meaningfulness, will experience great physical/mental/emotional pain and suffering from mental/emotional breakdown if they are being cut off from such connection, relationship, interaction and activity for a prolonged period of time.

Though many people would see mental/emotional breakdown and physical discomfort and pain or illness as something bad, negative and unhealthy, but for the Yoga and Buddhism practitioners, it's something very common and it is not something bad or unhealthy at all, especially during the mind purification process on the path of Yoga and Buddhism. There are many emotions and mental/physical discomfort and pain arising and passing away during the purification process. Layers and layers of mental/emotional blockage are being released when the modification of the mind is being restrained. It's an indication of how the mind function, act and react under the influence of ignorance and egoism.

During the prolonged mind purification process, there might be not just once, but many different times and degrees of mental/emotional breakdown on different stages. While intense physical discomfort and pain or illness, are the common manifestation of the purification process. It can be scary for many minds.

It requires great determination, perseverance and boldness, and certain degrees of non-attachment and non-identification for the mind to go through the entire mind purification process, to eliminate the veil of ignorance from the root.

If these minds can go beyond all those mental/emotional breakdown(s) and physical discomfort and pain or illness, and proceed with the deeper mind purification process, they would advance further on the path towards Self-realization.

While many minds couldn't go beyond that mental/emotional breakdown, or mental/emotional/physical discomfort and pain, and would rather stop and give up. As these minds are being conditioned to think and believe that mental/emotional breakdown or physical pain and illness is something bad and unhealthy, while the ego has strong aversion towards being 'weak and powerless'. And that's their freedom of thinking, action and inaction.

The ego only wants to be acknowledged and identified by itself and others as "I am strong. I am not weak," and "I am in control."

The mental/emotional breakdown makes the ego feels weak and powerless or out of control. "I am weak. I am not strong," and "I am not in control," which is something unpleasant that it doesn't like or want at all.

Due to deep rooted ignorance, those who can't or reluctant to face challenges/difficulties alone by oneself, or the minds that always seek comfort, love, joy, understanding, acknowledgement, meanings of life, sympathy and empathy from some others in this impermanent selfless life existence, or the minds that are being deeply conditioned to believe in certain superstitious/mystical phenomena and have intense attachment towards certain cultural or spiritual belief, ritual and practice, it would be extremely challenging for them to go through or survive intense mind purification process.

And hence, not everyone are suitable for such intense mind purification process. That's their freedom.

Inquire towards the truth of everything.

Mind purification in Yoga and Buddhism

The teachings and practice of Yoga and Buddhism is about liberation from the inevitable suffering of an impermanent and selfless worldly life existence deriving from the conditional and limited existence and function of a selfless impermanent physical body along with the ignorant egoistic impure restless modification of the perceptive and cognitive intellectual egoistic thinking mind, where the vanish of the idea of 'I', or the ego, or the delusive existence of an individual being, upon the absence of attachment and desire, or the annihilation of the restless modification of the selfless mind, where the realization of selflessness/'I'lessness/egolessness/birthlessness/deathlessness/oneness/attributelessness/namelessness/formlessness takes place, is the aim of the Yoga and Buddhism practice.

All forms of practice in Yoga and Buddhism is nothing but mind purification, or silencing the selfless and restless modification of the mind. It's not about the mind having only pure, good and positive thoughts or thinking, or void of impure, bad and negative thoughts or thinking. It's not about changing the perceived world to be all pure, good and positive, and nothing impure, bad and negative. It's definitely not about performing rituals and sacrifices to be accumulating merits and virtues to receive 'blessing' and be qualified to 'migrate' to a place called 'heaven'.

All the perceived names and forms, or the thinking, or the thought activities, or the perceived world of enjoyment and suffering, are just what they are, neither pure nor impure, neither good nor bad, neither positive nor negative. And both the perceiver and the perceived are impermanent and selfless.

Mind purification is indeed the entire process of the practice and it comes to an end upon the complete annihilation of the mind.

It's about freeing the mind from ignorance and egoism that give rise to restless modification of the mind, which hinders the cognitive mind from knowing Thyself, where the modification of the perceptive mind give rise to a selfless impermanent worldly life existence consisting of the idea of 'I' and everything that 'I' perceive, think and know, which generates duality and separateness that gives rise to all sorts of suffering, where all THESE are nothing but selfless impermanent changes of names and forms ceaselessly arising and passing away within the modification of the mind, in NOW.

There's no 'I', or the existence of an individual being. There is neither a past nor a future. It's merely impermanent selfless changes powered by the law of nature, cause and effect. Past and future only exists within the modification of the mind as memories and imaginations in the form of thinking or thought activities.

Countless thoughts/sensations/feelings are arising and passing away, or ceaseless 'births' and 'deaths' are happening selflessly, within the modification of the mind, in NOW. The perception of 'enjoyment' and 'suffering' is within the modification of the mind, in NOW. The selfless modification of the mind gives rise to countless worlds of pleasant enjoyment and painful suffering. There's no world upon the annihilation of the mind.

All forms of longing, clinging, disappointment, dissatisfaction, anger, hatred, greed, hurt, guilt, regret, grief, painful sorrow, fear and worry vanished upon the direct realization of THIS.

Craving and clinging towards enjoyment, and desiring to create permanent enjoyment in this life existence, is not freedom. Aversion and rejecting towards suffering, and desiring to escape inevitable suffering within this conditional and limited impermanent and selfless life existence, is not freedom.

Free from attachment and desire of craving and aversion, going beyond the mind perception of enjoyment and suffering in this fleeting worldly life existence of an impermanent and selfless body and mind that needs constant restless maintenance, that is limited and conditioned by the law of nature, that is inevitably bound by the physical and mental suffering of restlessness of impermanent selfless changes, that is subject to decay, old age, illness and disintegration even after all the restless maintenance to be surviving, and eventually annihilating the mind, is freedom, in NOW.

Freeing the mind from egoistic attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, judgment, comparison and expectation, which leads to removing the veil of ignorance and thinning out the modification of the mind, allowing the mind seeing the truth of itself, or knowing Thyself, as it is, which is Impermanent and Selfless.

"Form is emptiness. Emptiness is form. Form is not different from emptiness. Emptiness is not different from form." - The teachings of Buddhism

"On the whole, life is a sorrow." - Siddhartha Gautama Buddha

"There's only one book to read - This heart." - Ajahn Chah

"Brahman is real. The world is unreal." - The teachings of Yoga Vedanta

"Sarvam Duhkham Vivekinah - All indeed is pain to a person of discrimination." - Patanjali Maharshi

"Kill the mind." - Swami Sivananda

Contemplate on the teachings.