Forbearance is the highest sadhana

One of the teachings of yoga from Swami Sivananda is "Forbearance is the highest sadhana".

This teaching about forbearance is about being able to forbear the selfless mind perception of names and forms or experiences that are unpleasant, undesirable or disagreeable, without generate aversion, dissatisfaction, disappointment, ill will, anger, hatred, vengeance, or violence.

Forbearance was/is being misinterpreted by some yoga enthusiasts as "Developing and practicing forbearance (as well as fearlessness or non-attachment) by deliberately performing all kinds of self-harm practices or activities that give rise to unnecessary intentional self-inducing energy/nutrition deprivation, fatigue, hunger, thirst, painful suffering, discomfort, difficulty, hardship, inconvenience, damage, injury, illness, or deformity, and etc."

Depriving sleep, keeping eyes wide opened without blinking, standing on one leg, hanging upside down, raising one or two arm(s) in the air, extreme fasting, lying and sitting on sharp objects, coming in contact with extremely hot or cold temperature or object, deliberate self-inflicting all kinds of abusive and harmful treatment and effect unto the body and mind, and etc, for a prolonged period of time until the body and mind suffers from unnecessary fatigue, energy depletion, malnutrition, illness, injury, malfunction, or deformity, with the intention to challenge and go beyond the limitation of the body and mind to the maximum, in order to portray the practice of forbearance/fearlessness/dispassion/non-attachment/non-identification/non-craving/non-aversion/perseverance/determination/strength/flexibility/stamina, are nothing to do with the teachings and practice of yoga and/or buddhism, that is about wisdom and compassion, that is about the middle path and non-violence, that is about self-inquiry and self-realization, that is about realizing and resting in unconditional peace, that is nothing to do with challenging the selfless impermanent changes or the nature's law of cause and effect by abusing or hurting the body and mind as much as possible in order to challenge the limitation of the body and mind, by keep on pushing the body and mind beyond its limitation, until it suffers and breaks down.

The teachings and practice of yoga and buddhism is about enabling the mind to realize and respect the truth of selflessness and impermanence, as well as the nature's law of cause and effect, by developing and having the correct understanding towards the selfless body and mind needs to be constantly inter-changing between different states and positions, where one cannot be in any particular position or state for too long, that one cannot be staying asleep for too long, or staying awake for too long, or lying down for too long, or staying upside down for too long, or sitting for too long, or standing for too long, or walking for too long, or moving for too long, or staying focus for too long, or staying still for too long, or keep eating non-stop, or keep fasting non-stop, or keep chanting/singing non-stop, and so on. It needs to be inter-changing between all the different positions or states and activity/inactivity. Just as the earth needs to be spinning in a particular direction and speed ceaselessly, or the different seasons need to be inter-changing in certain order to create a suitable living condition for all and everyone and everything to be existing momentarily in this space that doesn't belong to anyone or anything.

Under the influence of ignorance, the idea of 'I', egoism and all kinds of impurities in the mind, the teaching about "Ignorance and the by-products of ignorance is the root cause of suffering" is being misinterpreted as "The selfless impermanent life existence and function of the body and mind is the root cause of suffering",

or "The practice of dispassion, non-attachment, non-identification, non-craving and non-aversion" is being misinterpreted as "The body and mind is an impure sinful problematic suffering adjunct that deserves all kinds of punishment, ill treatment, or painful suffering",

or "The teachings and practice of being kind and compassionate towards oneself and others, or self-love and love others" is being misinterpreted as "Self-indulgence or self-pampering in all kinds of pleasurable enjoyments of the senses, or the gratification of the desires of craving and aversion, or do what will make oneself feel happy, and to please others or to make others feel happy by gratifying all their desires of craving and aversion, or by giving them what they desire and don't give them what they don't desire, as well as empowering mental and emotional dependency among one another",

or "The practice of holding the body still in any particular position for a prolonged period of time in order to attain direct realization towards the truth of selflessness and impermanence in the body and mind" is being misinterpreted as "Training and challenging the body and mind to go beyond its limitation in the present moment to become better, fitter, healthier, stronger, more flexible, or more efficient than what it is now, by ceaselessly extending the duration of holding the breath and all kinds of positions or yoga poses, and extending the duration of maintaining the point of focus or concentration",

or "The teaching about the body positions and movements are influencing the energy fields in certain way that is also influencing the state of the mind in certain way" is being misinterpreted as "If the body is still, the energy fields will be static, and the mind will also be still",

or "The yoga asana practice, the breathing exercises, and the concentration exercises is about holding the different body positions or yoga poses, the breath, and the point of concentration for a prolonged duration comfortably without struggling," is being misinterpreted as "The degrees of improvement/advancement/achievement in the yoga practice or on the path of yoga, is determined by how long one can hold the different positions/poses, the breath, and the point of concentration, where one is an advanced yogi or yoga practitioner if one can hold the different positions/poses, the breath, and the point of concentration for an extensive duration comfortably without struggling, and vice versa."

A yogi, is not determined by the selfless impermanent condition/ability/limitation/performance of the body and mind that is limited and conditional, not to say, there is no such thing as beginner/intermediate/advanced/good/bad/experienced/non-experienced/qualified/non-qualified/certified/non-certified yogi, or yoga practitioner, or yoga teacher, or even master yoga teacher and 'Guru'. It's merely whether there is absence or presence of ignorance, the idea of 'I', egoism, impurities, and restlessness in the selfless impermanent modification of the mind, that is not determined by the absence and presence of the different qualities of names and forms that are selfless and impermanent, that are limited and conditional.

The selfless impermanent life existence and function of the limited and conditional body and mind is merely what it is. It is neither pure nor impure, neither good nor bad, neither positive nor negative, neither meaningful nor meaningless, neither a cause for enjoyment nor a cause for suffering.

It's the presence or absence of ignorance, the idea of 'I', and egoism that give rise to all kinds of impurities or suffering (the consequences of ignorance, the idea of 'I' and egoism) and restlessness (the selfless impermanent restless modification of the mind of ceaseless thought activities, actions/reactions and desires), that is whether the perceptive cognitive intellectual emotional thinking and acting mind appeared to be problematic, impure, suffering, bad, negative, meaningless, and devoid of peace, or not.

The yoga practitioners learn and experience directly towards the truth of the selflessness and impermanence of the body and mind during the process of learning and performing the different yoga asana poses, breathing exercises, concentration practice, meditation practice, and etc, where the condition, the ability, the limitation, and the performance of the body and mind is changing all the time, or it's different from time to time.

Sometimes, the body is more or less energetic, healthy, strong and flexible, and sometimes, the mind is more or less sharp, focus, calm and relax, or the condition/performance/ability/limitation of the body and mind is different from time to time. And even the record holder of the fittest, fastest, healthiest, kindest, happiest, strongest, most flexible, most intelligent, most knowledgeable, illness-free, injury-free, or oldest person in the world had underwent or is undergoing the natural process of decay, aging, weakening, energy depletion, ceased functioning, and disintegration.

It's natural for the body and mind to be impermanent, or constantly changing. It's natural for the body and mind to be undergoing the process of decay/aging/weakness/discomfort/illness/injury/limitation/ceased functioning/disintegration/death. If one tries to go against impermanent changes, or tries to challenge or stop impermanent changes, then there will be unnecessary intentional self-inflicted malfunction, discomfort, fatigue, illness, or injury arise in the body and mind.

One cannot breathe in only and not breathing out, or breathe out only and not breathing in, or hold the breath neither breathing in nor breathing out for too long.

One cannot hold or stay in any particular position or activity for too long, such as sitting for too long, standing for too long, lying down for too long, moving for too long, holding still for too long, and etc, or else, the body will experience discomfort, fatigue, breakdown, or injury, regardless of how fit, healthy, strong, and flexible is the body.

One cannot remain focus, active or awake for too long, where the focus will move and one needs to rest or sleep from time to time, or else, the mind will experience discomfort, fatigue, breakdown, or damage, regardless of how sharp, attentive, patient, forbearing, persevere, determine, adjustable, and adaptable is the thinking mind.

The selfless impermanent body and mind cannot be underused (being in the state of sleep/idleness for too long) or overused (being in the state of wakefulness/activeness for too long).

It's common and normal that the yoga practitioners and/or yoga teachers that are still functioning under the veil of ignorance, the idea of 'I', and egoism, would think and believe that all kinds of yoga practice is all about challenging the limitation of the body and mind, and going against the truth of selflessness and impermanence, or the nature's law of cause and effect.

"I am in control of my body and mind to be and not to be in certain way in accordance to my desire and don't desire." Or, "I am super human being that can defy selfless impermanent changes, the nature's law of cause and effect, gravity, illness, injury, decay, old age, weakness, limitation, and even, death."

That is everyone's freedom of thinking, belief, desire, practice, and action, however, it's nothing to do with the teachings and practice of yoga and/or buddhism.

It's only when there is the presence of 'all kinds of impurities', or 'suffering', or 'restlessness' in the modification of the mind under the presence of ignorance, the idea of 'I', and egoism, that the mind needs to 'forbear', or 'withstand', or 'let go' what the mind perceives, recognizes and experiences as something unpleasant, undesirable, or disagreeable. There is no need to forbear, or withstand, or let go anything, upon the absence of all kinds of impurities, or suffering, or restlessness, upon the absence of ignorance, the idea of 'I' and egoism.

Inquire the truth of everything.