Selfishness

Most of the minds that are selfish, are not aware of themselves are being selfish, but, they would think and believe that themselves are not selfish at all, while they might be aware of and recognizing many others are being selfish. These minds are being selfish unintentionally and ignorantly.

The minds that are aware of themselves are being selfish, that is because they deliberately want to be selfish, for their own reasons, to cause disturbance, or unhappiness, or obstacle, or inconvenience, or annoyance, or pain, or injury, or failure, or damage, or destruction, or unrest, and etc, unto other people, intentionally and deliberately, out of ungratified desires, greed, dissatisfaction, disappointment, anger, hatred, jealousy, fear, unrest, the sense of self-righteousness, the sense of pride, the sense of superiority or inferiority, or any kind of impurities in their modification of the mind. These minds are being selfish intentionally and ignorantly, even more ignorant than those who are not aware of themselves are being selfish.

These minds are not peaceful being disturbed by something that they don't enjoy, don't desire, don't like, and don't agree with, and they don't want others to be peaceful as well.

Similarly, the minds that are ignorant, are not aware of themselves are being ignorant, especially the minds that might be highly educated, knowledgeable, talented, skillful, or accomplished in something or in many things.

The minds that are aware of ignorance in themselves, they might or might not have the yearning to be free from ignorance. There is neither right nor wrong. It's the freedom of all minds whether they want to be free from ignorance, or not.

The minds that are aware of ignorance in themselves, and that have the yearning towards knowledge/liberation/freedom/peace, to be free from ignorance and the consequences of ignorance, are very precious in this world, as they can help themselves as well as maybe some others, to be free, to have correct understanding, to not hurt themselves and/or others.

"I don't like and don't want to be hurt by others. I don't like and don't desire others to be hurt by some others. I don't like and don't desire to hurt myself. I don't like and don't desire to hurt others. I might not be aware of myself is hurting myself and others. Now that I am aware of I have been hurting myself and others, I want to be free from hurting myself and others. I want to be free from what causing me to hurt myself and others."

That idea/thought/awareness/understanding is highly precious, as that initiates and powering the path towards self inquiry and self realization.

There is no need judgment, not to say, self punishment or repent, upon being aware of the selfishness, impurities, or ignorance in oneself. Let it go, and move on with that awareness/understanding, and keep practicing until the modification of the mind is purified, calmed, and quiet (clarity), without violence, without forcing, without judgment, without attachment, without identification, without craving, without aversion, without comparison, and without expectation, but never give up and keep going until the mind starts to see/know/realize the truth of itself under the absence of ignorance/hindrance a.k.a. under the presence of clarity.

Observe our own ceaseless actions/reactions/behaviors in everyday life, and see how much selfishness or ignorance in our actions/reactions/behaviors, either intentionally or unintentionally, out of anger, hatred, jealousy, pride, arrogance, fear, unrest, dissatisfaction, disappointment, unhappiness, frustration, irritation, bitterness, resentment, feelings of hurt/betrayed/being taken for granted/being exploited/being bullied/being insulted/being belittled/being threatened/being intimidated/being abandoned/being disapproved/being unappreciated/being unloved, the sense of low self-esteem, the sense of self-righteousness, possessiveness, self-protectiveness, and so on, that we were not aware of, until now, without judgment.

Without judgment, or non-judgment, alongside with non-attachment, non-identification, non-craving, non-aversion, non-comparison, and non-expectation, is highly important on the path of yoga and/or buddhism to be free from ignorance, to attain self realization, to transcend this selfless impermanent limited and conditional momentary life existence.

Inquire the truth of everything.

May all be free, be happy, be peaceful.

Want to learn and practice yoga? (9)

The practice of letting go judgment, comparison and expectation in the teachings of yoga, is exactly the opposite of the worldly thinking, belief, values and practice, in the competitive world of various forms of intelligence, talents, sports, skills, business and professionalism, that is mostly result, success and achievement orientated, that is about the development/empowerment of personal, family, community, school, company and national pride, determining the sense of self-esteem, self-worth, satisfaction and meaningfulness, through constant judgment, comparison and expectation from oneself and others towards the qualities of names and forms in oneself, and between/among different individuals and groups.

There's neither right nor wrong, it's just different approach, mentality, understanding and goal towards exerting energy into performing certain actions/practices/trainings that would lead towards what different minds defined as the highest development, improvement, transition, achievement or purpose for oneself and/or for others, in this life existence.

In the worldly thinking and practice, in order to motivate and inspire oneself to work harder and be better, one should constantly comparing oneself with oneself in the past, as well as comparing with all the others, to have great expectation towards oneself to become better and better, to be better than oneself in the past and be able to stand out among the others, and there's no end to continuous growth, improvement and achievement. That is deriving from egoism as well as empowering egoism. While in yoga, one can still be constantly improving one's physical and mental performance without the need of judgment, comparison and expectation.

No doubt that the body and mind is subject to decay and deterioration, and will stop 'growing' and followed by gradual decaying process at certain point, however, the body and mind can be maintaining certain degrees of good health and fitness level up to certain extend through engaging in certain regular healthy routine of mental and physical training and maintenance in moderation. Either over-use or under-use is not good for anything.

That's why in the teaching and practice of yoga, there are certain physical and mental training that could help to maintain certain degrees of physical and mental health and fitness level, if being practiced regularly under the correct understanding and attitude, but there's no attachment or identification, judgment or comparison, desire of craving and aversion or expectation towards the impermanent condition of the physical body and the state of the mind, knowing that it's the nature of the body and mind for being impermanent, as well as deterioration/decaying is the inevitable truth of all kinds of selfless names and forms, no matter how much effort being put into the maintenance of this body and mind. There's no dissatisfaction, disappointment, unhappiness or painful sorrow when the body and mind are losing youth, strength and mobility, experiencing aging, decaying, weakening, illness, injury, pain, discomfort, and approaching towards old age, death or decomposition.

In the yoga practice, one is practicing non-judgment, non-comparison and non-expectation in one's yoga practice as well as in daily life affairs, actions, activities and relationships with everyone and everything, either from oneself towards oneself, or towards others and among all kinds of names and forms. Respecting the perceived reality in the present moment now, as it is, as it changes from moment to moment, not necessarily pleasant, agreeable or desirable, without attachment or identification towards one's efforts and actions, and the fruit of one's efforts and actions.

Those who are free from judgment, comparison and expectation towards oneself and others, can still be doing one's best while engaging in various types of 'healthy' competitions, that promotes good health and fitness for the body and mind, as well as promoting sportsmanship and friendship among the different diversities in the world through the engagement of various forms of 'healthy' competitions. It's not so much about 'winning', but the entire process of persevered training and constant improving, physically and mentally, as well as the importance of sportsmanship in any competitions.

'Unhealthy' competitions are those that emphasized on the result, where 'winning'/'victory'/'success'/'effort well paid off'/'fame' is the highest goal of the persevered training, that promotes personal/group/national identity pride, and the sense of superiority, satisfaction and meaningfulness, where the minds might have difficulty in accepting 'failure', and would generate disappointment or shamefulness in oneself, and generate jealousy, resentment and hatred towards others who perform better than oneself, who beaten oneself in any kinds of competitions, while being demotivated to keep training or keep improving, after experiencing 'not winning'/'losing'/'failing' for certain times.

Healthy competitions are those that are about sportsmanship, and constant improvement of certain physical and mental talents, skills, performances and abilities, of certain business/professional strategies and services, to be using those enhanced talents, skills, abilities, strategies and services that can contribute to the world in certain way.

Healthy minds participating in healthy competitions are able to accept failure/not winning/losing, and don't generate disappointment or shamefulness in oneself, and don't generate jealousy, resentment or hatred towards others who perform better than oneself, who beaten oneself in any kinds of competitions, while still be persevered in one's learning/practice/training to continuously keep improving and keep trying, until one's retirement from such competitions. And it's okay, if after trying one's best, one still never win any competitions until one's retirement. That is actually more important than the one who is the best in one particular moment, who beats all the other competitors, or who stands out among all the others at that particular moment. And all are impermanent. The all time winners of any particular physical or mental competitions, will also have to retire, or passed way one day, as the body and mind is subject to decay or deterioration, even among the strongest or smartest people.

While being free from judgment, comparison, or expectation, just do one's best, without attachment and identification, will allow the mind to be free from unnecessary tension/pressure that would be affecting the physical and mental performance, and allowing the mind to be in the moment during the entire process of persevered physical and/or mental practice/training/development/improvement, and/or while engaging in any forms of competitions in the competitive world, without being distracted by judgment, comparison or expectation.

The relaxed/tension-free body and mind while engaging in physical and/or mental yoga practices will allow the mind to be fully attentive on the practice, being aware of the impermanent ability and limitation in the present moment, without forcing the body and mind beyond its limitation, which can help to minimize the risk of injury, as well as allowing the body and mind to be absorbing the effects/benefits of the practice more efficiently, without any expectation, craving or aversion towards the ability and disability of the body and mind in the present moment, or towards the effect/benefit/result/fruit of the practice, allowing the effect/benefit/result/fruit of practice being what it is.

Everyone has a different condition of the body and state of the mind, and it's impermanent. What the body and mind can do or cannot do, can achieve or cannot achieve in this present moment, is impermanent, and might be different from all the others. There's nothing to be comparing and judging about. Especially the yoga teacher and the yoga students in the yoga practice. The yoga teachers cannot say, "I can do this, so can you." Or in certain yoga teachers training courses, all students of 'aspired yoga teachers' are required to be able to do certain yoga asana poses, in order to pass the examination, and be graduated and qualified as 'certified yoga teachers'. That's pure ignorance.

The mind that is aware of ignorance and egoism, that is free from ignorance and egoism, that realized selflessness, compassion and unconditional peace, doesn't even need to be able to perform any yoga asana poses/chanting and prayer or possessing any 'recognized yoga teacher certification' to be guiding others onto the path of yoga.

Inquire the truth of everything.

Non-comparison in yoga

"If I can do it, so can you!"
"Look! It's possible for them, it should be possible for you too!"
"This is so easy. You should be able to do it."
"Think positive! Believe in yourself! You can do it!"

All these motivational positive encouragements comparing someone with others to motivate a person to achieve something and the practice of positive thinking to motivate someone to perform a task, are nothing wrong or bad. But, this is not the teaching and practice of yoga.

There are different conditions, abilities and limitations in different people. And all kinds of conditions, abilities and limitations are impermanent and it's not 'I'.

The easiest or most comfortable positions or practice for some people might be challenging or very uncomfortable for some other people, and vice versa. Different people come from different life backgrounds and experiences have very different reactions towards the positions and practice. We can never compare one with another about what they can do or can't do, and what they should do or shouldn't do.

It's about knowing the conditions, abilities and limitations of the body and mind in the present moment now, and perform actions that are possible in the present moment, and achieve what is possible in the present moment, without comparison with the past conditions, abilities and limitations, without comparison with other people's conditions, abilities and limitations, without forcing the body and mind beyond its present conditions, abilities and limitations. Meanwhile, being aware of the conditions, abilities and limitations in the present moment now are impermanent and there's no identification with any conditions, abilities and limitations to be identifying as 'I'.

It's just what is possible and impossible in the moment without attachment towards the possibilities or impossibilities that are impermanent.

There's nothing wrong or bad with 'impossibilities'. It's okay if something is being 'impossible' and for us to be experiencing 'impossibilities'. It's okay that there are things which our body and mind can't do or can't achieve in the present moment, or even until the last moment of the existence of this body and mind. But we do our best, and keep doing our best, without attachment towards our efforts and the results of our efforts.

'Anything is possible' doesn't mean that everything is possible. It's about being open-minded towards any possibilities (both possibility and impossibility), without expectation towards anything to be possible or impossible. It's okay if there are things that are not in our control or wishes to be the way that we like it to be or the way that we think it should be. By telling ourselves and others that 'everything is possible', but only limited to the things that we want to achieve or things that we want them to happen, and for the things that we don't want them to happen, we don't want them to be possible, is denying and running away from the reality that we don't like and don't want.

Acknowledging that 'not everything is possible' makes 'anything is possible' possible. Allowing the possibility for possibilities and impossibilities.

It's okay if we can't do something that we would like to be able to do or achieve something that we would like to achieve. What we can do or can't do and what we achieve or don't achieve, has nothing to do with the realization of unconditional peace and compassion.

Everything is just what it is. It is neither possible or impossible.

Thinking positively won't change the truth of impermanence and selflessness to be what it is. Thinking positively every moment hoping everything is good and pleasant, that the world will be free from all kinds of suffering, will not stop different beings from experiencing different kinds of suffering. It's the actual effort of self-inquiry to be free from ignorance through self-realization of the truth of suffering will free oneself from suffering. It's nothing to do with positive thinking.

Be free.

Non-comparison and non-judgment...

Not long after the teacher mentioned about let go of comparison during the yoga asana practice, the student saw the teacher was teaching some of the movements being different from some other teachers, and started to compare and asked the teacher, "I saw you bring the feet in when you do this. My teachers at home said we should not bring the feet in."

The teacher replied, "Your teachers must have their good reason why they tell the students that they should not bring the feet in while doing this movement. There's nothing wrong in their teaching.

In the yoga asana practice here, it's about using the yoga asana practice to help to balance and quiet the mind, to prepare the mind for meditation, to free the mind from ignorance and egoism, identification and attachment, craving and aversion, judgment, comparison and expectation. It's nothing to do with achieving the perfect physical alignment at all.

If by having perfect alignment while performing all these yoga exercises will bring peace and compassion, then all those people who perform physical movements with perfect alignment are all peaceful and compassionate, be free from unhappiness and suffering, be free from anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, dissatisfaction, disappointment, feelings of hurt, feelings of guilt, fear and worry.

People who don't have the flexibility or strength to put their bodies into so call perfect alignment in the yoga asana practice can still be free from ignorance and suffering, realize unconditional love and peace, if they know what is non-attachment and non-identification, if they know how to free the mind from egoism and all sorts of defilements and impurities, and realize the truth, be free from ignorance.

It depends on each individual whether they will be comfortable or not in any physical movements. Everyone has a different body and different physical flexibility and limitations. We cannot tell the students that they have to do the movements in such and such way. By bringing the feet in or not in this movement, has nothing to do with peace and compassion. It's about whether your body is comfortable or not while performing all these movements, and it's about do what your body can do in the present moment now without forcing your body to go beyond its limitation. It's not about trying to imitate other people especially the teacher, to be doing the exercises exactly the same like how other people do. We might be doing the same exercises, but everyone might look differently from one another."

When we see two things that appear to be different, the mind is conditioned to make comparison and judgment, to decide which one is right, and then the mind will judge the other one that is different from this one must be wrong then.

But the truth of everything is that they are neither right nor wrong. Everything has their different reasons to be existing.

Once we know how to train the mind to let go of this habit of comparing and judging, we will start to see the truth of things as they are, and be free from ignorance.

Om shanti.

Non-comparison, non-judgment and non-expectation?

We may hear about somebody complains about this or that teacher is not good, or this or that school is not good, or this type or that type of yoga is not good... But it is actually our mind is not pure, full of negativities, defects, likes and dislikes, agreements and disagreements... That's why we see or recognize all the negativities and defects in other people or in things, as that is the reflection of what our mind is...

If there is a quality that our mind cannot perceive or recognize, that is because in our mind there is no such quality. Just like when we couldn't see or recognize the good qualities in other people, it's because there is no such good qualities in our own mind to reflect upon... It doesn't mean that these people don't have good qualities in them but we just don't see it or recognize it... And usually our mind is having a mixture of good and bad qualities, and thus we will see or recognize the same qualities in other people but not something that is beyond what our mind can perceive...

And we judge everything according to what our mind likes and dislikes, agreements and disagreements, as good or not good... If it is something what our mind likes and agrees with, we will say it is good... If it is something what our mind doesn't like and disagree with, we will say it is not good... But this judgment of "good" and "bad" is coming from our mind according to what our mind believes what is "good" or "bad"... It is not what things really are...

For example, we ate "particular food" for the first time, and it tastes what we don't like, and that was what our mind recognized or perceived - "That particular food is not good", "It's not tasty", "I am not happy eating it", and "I don't like it"... When other people say to us, "That particular food is so good", "It's so tasty", "I am so happy eating it" and "I like it", as it tastes what they like, and we (our mind) will disagree with that. We might even argue with people to prove that our opinion is right and their opinion is wrong... But that particular food has no intentions or qualities to be good or not, to be tasty or not, to make us feel happy eating it or not, to make us like it or not... All these judgments are coming from what our mind believes what things are, according to our likes and dislikes, agreements and disagreements, but it is not what things really are...

We can only be aware of all the different qualities in each person, and accept everyone as they are without comparison, judgment and expectation, as everyone is also in the process of learning and transformation... We also be aware of all the different qualities in ourselves, and accept ourselves as we are without comparison, judgment and expectation, as ourselves are also in the process of learning and transformation... And if we are already pure and perfect, there won't be any judgments towards anyone, nor comparing everyone, nor expecting everyone should be behaving, act and react in certain ways that we think that is what they suppose to behave, act and react... With the pure mind, all the qualities of names and forms disappear. The pure mind will perceive and accept everyone and everything as they are... They are not good or bad. They are not positive or negative. They are not happiness or suffering... They are just what they are.

When we see or attached to the different qualities of names and forms, we will start to have comparison and judgment about this person or that person is better or worst, and start to generate preferences and discrimination, likes and dislikes, and craving and aversion... Due to strong attachment toward all these judgments towards the different qualities of names and forms, the veil of ignorance in our mind is growing thicker and thicker... Our own evolution becomes more and more difficult, as the veil of ignorance is growing stronger than before... Why be disturbed and be bothered by other people being different from each other or being different from us, or expecting all of them to be the same, or to be like us, to determine, or to control, or to influence our own practice and evolution?

We respect and accept everyone to be free to think and believe what they want to think and believe, to behave, to act and react the way that they want to behave, act and react... And allow everyone to be different with one another, and be different from us. Why do we want to control other people or to change other people to think and believe, to behave, to act and react the same ways like us? Meanwhile we are full of aversion, rejection, anger and hatred if other people don't like us the way that we are, and they want to control us or to change us to be the way that they think we should think, believe, behave, act and react...?

When we think we are good people, we do good things and don't do bad things... We judge ourselves as "good beings". And we criticize and judge other people whom we think they are not good like us, they don't do good things like us, and they do bad things, as "bad beings"... We think we are more superior than them, and we are better human beings... We get angry and hating these people, and we don't like them and don't want them to be here in this world, or we want to control them and change them to be the way that we want them to be... We think we deserve to be here and all these "bad beings" don't deserve to be here... We want to kill them all or we want them to be killed by somebody, and we curse and condemn them into hell... CAN we see now, how evil and selfish we are? We are not any different from these people whom we think they are bad and evil...

For example, alcohol exists for some medical reasons. When somebody abuse the use of alcohol and cause damages in their physical and mental health, it is not the fault of the alcohol... It is not the alcohol being bad... It is people's own responsibility for abuse the use of alcohol and to consume it to the point that causes damages to themselves... Alcohol itself is not something good or not good... It has no quality or intention to be good or bad... It is whether we use it wisely or abusively, and reflect it as something good for medical reason, or reflect it as something not good for damaging our body and mind... It is our own intention and self-control that is responsible for our own behavior and the consequences of our behavior...

Even though there are many people practice yoga and meditation in the world, but everyone evolves on different levels and speeds. We cannot expect everyone has the same understanding and practice, and having the same way of thinking and behavior, actions and reactions, even though everyone is practicing "yoga and meditation", or is practicing different types of "yoga and meditation" practice. Everyone has different degrees of ignorance and realization, different degrees of attachment, craving and aversion, and different strength of the egoism... Even though in the same Ashram or school of yoga, not everyone who involves in the teaching, administrative and management will be having the same characteristic and personality, actions and reactions...

Our practice is our own effort and for our own transformation, it is nothing to do with other people's practice and transformation... It doesn't matter if the teacher is not perfect nor completely pure yet, but it should not be an obstacle or distraction to influence or affect our own practice, nor stop us from performing our own practice and evolves on own level and speed. As the path of realization of truth is very personal. It is nothing to do with the quality of the teacher or the school...

Just like some people look at some "yogis" who are behaving "badly" in the world, and they judge and criticize "yoga" or "yoga practice" as something not good or evil, that it will make people behaving badly like all these "bad yogis"... Or they blame and judge the teacher of the "bad yogis" as bad teacher and is responsible for the "bad yogis" bad behavior... Or they judge the yoga schools where these "bad yogis" went to as bad schools... But this is complete ignorant way of seeing things and judging things... The "bad yogis" themselves is responsible for their own behavior...

People who learn under the same teacher or same school, also will have different levels of understanding, different degrees of ignorance and realization, different types of characteristic and personality, different degrees of attachment, different speed of evolution and etc... And all these different levels and degrees of transformation is nothing to do with the teacher or the school... Our own understanding, perception of things, degrees of ignorance and attachment, actions and reactions, characteristics and personalities, and speed of transformation is our own responsibility, it's not the responsibility of the teacher or the school...

Even if we are aware of the imperfect or impure qualities in the teachers, that should not become obstacles or distractions in our own evolution... At the same time we ourselves accept the teacher as he is or as she is, without expecting the teacher should be perfect or should be on a higher level of understanding or transformation than us... As real teachers can be anyone and anything, not necessarily has to be a perfect saint or sage who is completely free from the ego, or who is completely selfless... The teacher or the happening is there to allow us to see or recognize the ignorance, impurities or selfishness in ourselves, and it's not about seeing and recognizing the ignorance, impurities or selfishness in the teacher or in the happening, and be disturbed and affected by them...

A very good teacher or good school cannot guarantee all the students will be having the same degree of ignorance and realization, and evolve at the same speed of transformation... Buddha couldn't make everyone be enlightened and be free from ignorance, nor could he give peace to anyone, nor could he remove suffering from anyone... As well as the ignorance, restlessness and suffering of everyone could not affect Buddha's enlightenment, liberation and peace...

Everyone has the opportunity and should be given the opportunity to experience what they need to experience for them to learn and evolve in their own way and speed... Even though if they have to repeatedly go through many unnecessary meaningless unpleasant experiences... They have to learn from themselves and realize the truth by themselves. And through out the journey of transformation, there's no judgment, comparison and expectation towards ourselves and other people even if they are our teachers... The teachers have their own evolution, and we have our own evolution...

If we haven't realize the truth by ourselves, then no matter how many books talking about the truth that we have read, how many yoga classes and courses that we have attended, and how many good teachers that we have, we will still be influenced by the veil of ignorance in us and be disturbed by the impurities in our own mind, and be in miseries...

We read or heard about the terms about "being in the present moment" and the ways to be in the present moment, but it won't liberate us until we know how to be in the present moment...

When we think we are disappointed by the teachers who are not as perfect as what we think they should be, actually we are disappointed by our own expectation towards the teachers, we expect them to be perfect... The disappointment is not coming from the teachers being imperfect... They and their imperfection didn't disappoint us.

Mind our own mind, not other people's mind, not even our teacher's mind...

Om shanti.