Want to learn and practice yoga? (18)

Does it mean that if everyone in the world are practicing yoga, then the world will be free from ignorance and the consequences of ignorance?

Not really.

The total amount of people who are 'practicing yoga' in the world is not related to whether the world is or will be free from ignorance and the consequences of ignorance.

If more minds are free from the influence of ignorance and egoism, regardless of whether they are practicing yoga, or not, then the world will have less ignorant behaviors, actions and reactions, and less the consequences of ignorance.

If all minds are void of ignorance in this moment, then the world is void of ignorant behaviors, actions and reactions and the consequences of ignorance being generated in this moment. And every moment is changing.

The enthusiasm and action of practicing yoga regardless of the total amount of time and effort that one has been engaging in certain type of yoga practice regularly, especially if without knowing what is dispassion and renouncing the action and the fruit of action, it doesn't determine that the mind is or will be free from ignorance. The world is and will still be full of ignorant behaviors, actions and reactions, and the consequences of ignorance, even when all and everyone in the world are engaging in some kind of yoga practice regularly.

Ignorance and egoism also exists in the world of yoga.

That's why the aspiration of celebrating 'International Yoga Day' to bring people to come together and to create certain awareness into the world, with the intention of promoting yoga in the world by motivating more people to develop enthusiasm into practicing different types of yoga practice, to bring more people into the yoga community, to build a bigger yoga community of the similar interest and like-minded, it doesn't necessarily mean that the world is having or will be having less ignorance and the consequences of ignorance.

A selfless yogi doesn't even need to be celebrating one's birthday or any kind of 'celebration day', not to say, to be promoting, supporting and celebrating so called 'International Yoga Day' being introduced and inaugurated by 'an organization leads by a mind who claimed oneself as a yogi as well as representing a particular religion and nation to be claiming ownership and authorization over yoga' with the aspiration of 'promoting yoga' into the world for 'humanity and peace', while at the same time, being responsible for discriminating, oppressing and generating disturbing and hurtful behaviors towards some other religion, culture, nation and human race.

All kinds of 'celebration day' representing and propagating certain qualities of names and forms, either intentionally or unintentionally promoting and empowering particular passionate egoistic attachment and identification towards certain qualities of names and forms, in which promotes separateness among the different names and forms, as well as wittingly or unwittingly empowering discrimination and resentment towards certain qualities of names and forms that a particular individual or one particular community disagrees with, are all born out of ignorance and egoism. It's completely moving away from yoga of Selflessness, Oneness, or non-separateness and non-discrimination.

Above all, all kinds of 'celebration day' or 'festival' that invite and require as many people to come together to be 'doing' something, to celebrate a personal or community cause, are the creation of the world of commercialism to be 'boosting' business sales of certain commercial products and services related to all those different types of activity, celebration and festival.

Meanwhile, certain festivals are about remembering, acknowledging and empowering something good or bad that had happened in the past, to never forget the good or bad things that had happened upon us, our family, or our fellow community, either empowering craving/clinging towards 'something that was good' or empowering aversion/hatred towards 'something that was bad', as well as passing down all those 'aspirations' onto the next generations so that they also 'know' and 'never forget', which don't really help the minds to be free from ignorance and egoism.

Just as many people are being conditioned to feel bad, guilty and left out, or being criticized or condemned, if they don't or can't go back home, to be with their family members, relatives, friends, or their particular community, to be performing certain actions or gestures on specific celebration day or festival day, which is not at all what yoga practice is about. One who loves their family and friends will always be loving their family and friends, even when being absent most of the time, or all the time. One who couldn't be present on certain funerals, doesn't mean that one doesn't love, or respect, or care for those who passed away.

Think again, if this mind still feels being disturbed, disappointed, unloved, left out or upset by someone whom it knows, but didn't or don't acknowledge anything and not being physically or mentally present on it's birthday or some other's birthday, or be physically or mentally participating in any kind of personal and community celebration or festival day of certain names and forms in this world. Where most of these actions/activities are about empowering passionate egoistic attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, and expectation, towards the qualities of names and forms.

There's neither right nor wrong, as all kinds of celebration and festival day are good for promoting the economy and people's livelihood, while 'connecting' and 'comforting' the minds that are under the influence of ignorance and egoism, that are being interdependent on the physical/mental presence and support of one another to feel good and meaningful about oneself and the world, by encouraging people to come together at certain time and for certain cause, but then, it's moving the minds away from the means of yoga.

The yoga practitioners that don't celebrate their own birthdays, or some other's birthday, or their parents/siblings/friends/teachers/guru's birthday/funeral day, or don't participating in any kind of rituals/festivals related to the yoga community, doesn't determine that they are not practicing yoga, or are being ungrateful or disrespectful, and vice versa.

Inquire towards the truth of everything.