Want to learn and practice yoga? (17)

There's a difference between practicing yoga and doing some form of yoga practice.

Doing some form of yoga practice regularly might give certain physical and mental health and fitness benefits to the practitioners, but the minds are not necessarily be free from ignorance and suffering, if they are not practicing yoga.

From the appearance, one might seem to be practicing yoga by doing some form of yoga practices regularly, but one is not necessarily practicing yoga if the mind is performing the yoga practice or any kind of actions in everyday life under the influence of passionate egoistic attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, comparison, judgment, intention, aspiration and expectation.

Practicing yoga is beyond doing some form of yoga practice regularly, where it is unlimited or undetermined by whether one is doing some form of yoga practice, or not.

One can be practicing yoga even though from the appearance, one might seem to be not doing any form of yoga practice.

Regardless of whether one is performing some form of yoga practice regularly, or not, all kind of actions (both motion and motionless) are being performed without passionate egoistic attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, comparison, judgment, intention, aspiration and expectation, renouncing the actions and the fruit of actions.

Such minds don't need to be receiving any positive words or gestures of encouragement and acknowledgement to be motivated for performing all kinds of actions. They are not being determined by the action or the fruit of action. They don't need to be recognized as 'yoga practitioners', or 'yogis', or 'yoga teachers', not to say, 'experienced', 'advanced', 'qualified', 'certified', or 'good, kind and loving' yoga practitioners, yogis, or yoga teachers.

Regardless of how long one has been practicing yoga or doing some form of yoga practice regularly, and what the body and mind can do and cannot do, or achieve and doesn't achieve, there is no beginner, or intermediate, or advanced level yoga practitioner or yoga teacher.

It's just whether one is practicing yoga, or not. It's just whether the body and mind has the sufficient physical and mental strength, flexibility and skill to be doing certain yoga poses and other practices, or not, which doesn't determine whether one is practicing yoga, or not.

One might not be perfected in the annihilation of ignorance and egoism, where there might still be certain degrees of ignorance/cloudiness/doubt/disturb in the modification of the mind, but there's no attachment towards what it is now, knowing that it's not 'I', but just the body and mind being what it is, and it's impermanent. And if there's attachment arise in the mind towards certain names and forms, it will pass away or subside effortlessly, without further identification, judgment or expectation towards the presence of attachment.

It's the same as whether one is teaching yoga or merely teaching some form of yoga practice, or both.

Everyone takes their own pace to realize whether one is practicing and teaching yoga, or merely doing some form of yoga practice and teaching some form of yoga practice. It's neither right nor wrong. It's just whether the mind is free from ignorance, or not, and whether one is practicing and teaching yoga, or not. However, if one is teaching some form of yoga practice under the influence of ignorance and egoism, it might be empowering the ignorance and egoism in the yoga students and in oneself, unwittingly, instead of leading towards the elimination of ignorance and egoism.

Similarly, when there's attachment, there's unrest, disturb, hurt or suffering. Void of attachment, there's no unrest, disturb, hurt or suffering. There's no beginner, intermediate or advance level in terms of letting go any form of attachment. It's either let go, or don't want to let go.

Either intentionally or unintentionally, upon the hand coming in contact with the fire that is there selflessly, there's painful burning sensation on the hand, and one can either move the hand completely away from the fire immediately to stop continuously burning and damaging the hand, or for certain reasons, one can be intentionally continuously keeping the hand in contact with the fire, causing deeper burns and damages to the hand, but one cannot blame the fire for the painful sensation and damages in the hand as the fire is just being what it is. It has no intention to be useful for something or causing painful sensation and damages to something. If people don't want the suffering of painful burning sensation or damages from being burnt, the simple way is don't touch the fire. One can still enjoy the usefulness of fire to be cooking something or for many other utilization, without touching the fire, and not burning oneself in painful sensation or damaging anything.

However, the passionate egoistic positive thinking minds are aspiring to challenge the fire, as they believe in "Being positive and optimistic will make the impossible become possible. Nothing is impossible," hoping that either they can change the hot burning fire to become non-hot non-burning 'fire' but still can do what it supposed to do (to be hot and burning), or they will try using many different scientific methods and endurance trainings to become 'superhuman' where they want to be able to come in contact with extremely hot burning fire as long as they want, but without getting any burn, painful sensation and damages. Just because they like fire so much, or that is what they want to do and achieve, or they want to prove that "You can do and achieve anything as you desire," and "Nothing is impossible."

When they feel hurt from coming in contact with fire wittingly and deliberately, they blame the fire for being hot and burning, and expect to be receiving sympathy, love and comfort from others. And they will continuously repeatedly coming in contact with fire and get burnt and injured, and expect more sympathy, love and comfort from others. And they will feel very disappointed and meaningless if they don't receive the expected sympathy, love and comfort from some others, and they might do something that hurt oneself and others out of great disappointment and meaninglessness for not receiving the sympathy, love and comfort that they expect to be receiving. And the passionate sympathetic minds will blame themselves or other people for not giving enough sympathy, love and comfort to those who 'need' or 'deserve' to be receiving sympathy, love and comfort, that 'cause' them to be hurting themselves and others out of disappointment and meaninglessness. Just because they believe that the world should be full of such sympathetic loving kindness. What the world needs is compassion, not sympathetic loving kindness that is under the influence of ignorance and egoism.

All minds just need to stop hurting themselves wittingly or unwittingly, by freeing itself from ignorance. That is compassion.

There are also disturbed minds that might 'hurt' others either intentionally or randomly, as healthy minds won't hurt themselves or hurt anyone intentionally, if so, one can do one's best to stay away from such sicked minds. If it's not possible to avoid being 'hurt' by some sicked minds, one can do one's best to be recovered from any injury, and let it go, as none can undo what had happened, and the sicked minds that intentionally inflict hurtful damages onto others and the surrounding environment, are under the influence of intense ignorance. None can remove the ignorance in the minds but the mind itself.

It's upmost important to look after this mind by freeing itself from ignorance, before it's too late to do anything, when the mind is completely being over-powered by deep ignorance, it would hurt itself and others intentionally or randomly.

Suffering is the reflection of ignorance. Void of ignorance, void of suffering.

Inquire towards the truth of everything.