Neither right nor wrong

Most people think, react and behave in certain ways that conform to the way of thinking, reaction and behavior of the majority of the society, and naturally there will be egoistic judgment and expectation towards how all the others should or shouldn't think, react and behave in certain ways in accordance to their way of thinking, reaction and behavior that they think and believe as 'right' or 'wrong', 'good' or 'bad', 'positive' or 'negative', 'healthy' or 'unhealthy', 'appropriate' or 'inappropriate', 'normal' or 'abnormal', 'sane' or 'insane'. Anything that are contradicting and are different from their own way of thinking, reaction and behavior, would be categorized as 'wrong', 'bad', 'negative', 'inappropriate', 'unhealthy', 'abnormal', or 'insane'. What is contradicting with what the impure egoistic minds think and believe as 'humanity' is being understood as 'inhumanity'. There are lots of discussions, debates, arguments and conflicts exist due to the strong attachment towards the mind perception of duality under the influence of ignorance and egoism that based on particular way of thinking, reaction and behavior that is agreeable to the majority of the society.

Yoga practice is about changing such egoistic thinking pattern of the impure egoistic mind and allowing the mind to see things as they are, to free the mind from egoistic judgment or expectation towards all the different ways of thinking, reaction and behavior to be or not to be in certain way.

Upon coming in contact with the 'death' of someone or something, most minds would react and feel sad and grieve/mourn, and would criticize or condemn certain minds that don't react in such way, where they don't feel sad nor grieve/mourn towards the 'death' of someone or something (that most minds think and believe as something good and is dear to them), as a form of 'wrongful'/'bad'/'inappropriate'/'negative'/'unhealthy'/'abnormal'/'insane' way of thinking, reaction and behavior. Meanwhile, these impure egoistic minds would feel glad and cheer towards the 'death' or 'destruction' of someone or something that they think and believe as something bad and is hated by them.

And that's everyone's freedom for how they think, feel, react, judge and expect.

For the yoga practitioners, it's all about the elimination of ignorance and egoism, by freeing the mind from such worldly egoistic thinking pattern of the mind.

How the minds perceive and judge towards everything is based on what the minds know and understand, and what the impure egoistic minds know and understand is very limited and conditioned under the influence of ignorance and egoism, even if the minds are highly educated and knowledgeable.

People who might be highly educated and knowledgeable could be thinking and believing that, "The minority must respect and conform to the idea and wish of the majority." and constantly be offended and hurt by something that the mind dislikes and disagrees with.

The selfless yogis, or the wise ones, or the dispassionate ones, neither grieve/mourn towards the 'death' nor cheer/celebrate towards the 'birth' of 'the good and dearest ones'. Neither will they cheer towards the 'death' nor grieve/mourn towards the 'birth' of 'the bad and hated ones'. It's not that they are emotion-less, or heart-less, or depressing, abnormal or insane, it's just that they perceive and understand everything differently from the majority of the society, being aware of the truth of names and forms and transcending all the qualities of names and forms that are subject to cause and effect, impermanence and selflessness. The thinking, reaction and behavior pattern of these minds towards the perception/experience of all kinds of names and forms or the pleasant/unpleasant experiences has transcended the perception and understanding of the impure egoistic minds, where they don't think, react or behave like the majority of the society.

Whenever the mind thinks and judges, "Oh, this person thinks, reacts and behaves in the way that is so wrong, bad, negative, inappropriate, abnormal, unhealthy or insane. Obviously this person doesn't know or understand how to think, react or behave in the way that is right, good, positive, appropriate, normal, healthy and sane." then know that most probably it's actually 'this mind that thinks and judges in such way' that doesn't know/understand or is being ignorant towards something that is beyond what this mind knows and understands.

Know this mind. Know Thyself.

It's merely different ways of thinking, reaction and behavior under different states of the mind that is subject to cause and effect, impermanence and selflessness, that is either under the influence of ignorance and egoism, or not.

If the mind cannot go beyond the duality of right and wrong, good and bad, positive and negative, and so on, then even though one has been practicing and teaching yoga for many years, this mind is not free.

Contemplate, reflect, realize.

Heart Sutra (Sanskrit)

Heart Sutra (Sanskrit) by Imee Ooi

How to see the truth of everything as it is and be free

People grieve and cry for the death of someone or something that they think and believe as good and right, that they love very much, that they think it doesn't deserve to die. People feel glad and cheer for the death of someone or something that they think and believe as bad and wrong, that they hate very much, that they think it deserves to die.

Death is neither good nor bad, neither positive nor negative, neither happiness nor suffering, neither right nor wrong. It's all about what we like and don't like. When we feel grief and cry for 'death' is because we are losing something that we like. When we feel glad and cheer for 'death' is because we are getting rid of something that we don't like.

Whenever we feel angry, upset, disturbed, hurt, sad or disagree about something, it's not because people or things are being 'bad', 'wrong', 'negative', or 'suffering'. It's because we come in contact with something that we disagree with based on our thinking and belief of what is right and wrong, good and bad, or we are not getting what we like and want, we are losing what we like and want, and we are getting what we don't like and don't want.

People mourn for the death of those whom they love, that matter to them (people or animals or insects), and don't mourn for the death of those whom they have no likes or dislikes, that don't matter to them, and cheer for the death of those whom they hate and disagree with.

And hence, this allows us to understand that 'death' is neither good nor bad, neither happiness nor suffering, neither right nor wrong, neither positive nor negative. It's all subjective reactions influenced by attachment towards the likes and dislikes, agreements and disagreements, based on a particular personal thinking and belief.

It's the desire of craving and aversion that generates unhappiness, disturb, hurts, resentment, painful sorrow and suffering in the mind. It is ignorance that causes the mind to think and believe that unhappiness, disturb, hurts, resentment, painful sorrow and suffering are caused by something bad, wrong, horrible, inhumane, negative or suffering.

Perform this inquiry into everything that our minds perceive and judge as good and bad, positive and negative, right and wrong, happiness and suffering.

Everything is just what it is. People are just being what they are. Things are just what they are. The world is just what it is.

There's no clinging, craving, aversion, discrimination, hatred, fear, painful sorrow, or suffering.

There's no good death or bad death. Everything is just arising and passing away.

If one doesn't know this, one doesn't know what is compassion, even though one identifies oneself as a compassionate being, and tries to be compassionate or practice compassion or perform compassionate actions.

Allow the mind to be open and see things as they are, uninfluenced by the conditioned/limited/subjective personal thinking and belief, egoism of attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, judgment and expectation, and ceaseless autonomous reactions of impurities.

If people don't like or don't agree with this, that's their freedom of thinking, belief, actions and reactions.

Be free.

Param Vairagya - Absolute Dispassion - Neither attachment nor non-attachment

When all the duality of

Good and bad

Right and wrong

Positive and negative

Happiness and suffering

Light and darkness

Gain and loss

Praise and condemn

Success and failure

Appropriateness and inappropriateness

Norm and abnormal

Sane and insane

Birth and death

Are not different from one another

All fear and worry vanished

There's neither craving nor aversion

There's no attachment towards either side

Detachment doesn't exist

There's neither attachment nor non-attachment

The basics of yoga and meditation practice...

Negative mind sees things negatively.
Positive mind sees things positively.
Agitated mind sees things agitatedly.
Peaceful mind sees things peacefully.
Depressed mind sees things depressingly.
Cheerful mind sees things cheerfully.

Liberated mind sees things as they are.

They are neither negative, nor positive, nor agitating, nor peaceful, nor depressing, nor cheerful.
Everything is just what it is.

These are the basics of yoga and meditation practice.

Be free.

Letting go of attachment towards the thinking and beliefs in the mind...

It is not important whether the thinking and beliefs in our minds is true or not true. Or whether other people's thinking and beliefs that is different from our thinking and beliefs, is true or not true. We don't have to attach to any thinking and beliefs to be somebody with certain qualities of names and forms which we think that is who we are.

As the Truth is nothing to do with what type of thinking and beliefs in the mind. The Truth is always there as it is, whether we can see it or not. We see the Truth when the mind is free from attachment towards the qualities of names and forms, and is not influenced by dualism and egoism. We can't see the Truth when the mind is attaching towards the qualities of names and forms, and our thinking and beliefs is being influenced by dualism and egoism.

It is about letting go of attachment towards what our minds or other people's minds think and believe what things are. Allow all the different thinking and beliefs to be existing as they are, without clinging onto any of them to be who we are.

Allow the mind to be opened, to allow all the different thinking and beliefs to be what they are, allow everyone to have different thinking and beliefs from one another, without generate attachment of craving and aversion towards certain type of thinking and beliefs that our minds like and dislike, agree and disagree with.

This will lead to non-judgment, non-comparison and non-expectation. Not comparing ours and others thinking and beliefs that are different from one another. Nor judging other people's thinking and beliefs that are different from us as good or bad. Nor expect other people to change their thinking and beliefs that our minds dislike and disagree with into what our minds like and can agree with.

This is part of the purification process to free the mind from dualism and egoism which is the cause of separateness and afflictions.

Once we realize the Truth, we don't have to play the worldly game of egoism that attached to qualities of names and forms to be who we are, and be free.

Om shanti.

How to identify the ego and how to eliminate the ego...

To encourage and motivate others to do better and achieve higher goal in whatever fields, is indeed very kind and uplifting. It is a 'positive' action to encourage others to be positive, to do better and to be better. There's nothing wrong with looking forward to a better personality and higher achievement. It is much reasonable and better than being 'negative' to discourage others to do better and to be better.

Yet, the one who needs to be better, and who needs 'positive' encouragements and motivations to do better, to be better, is the ego. By being 'positive' to give encouragements and motivations to others to do better and to be better is actually empowering the egoism in others.

It seems like the spiritual teachers in the traditional lineage are very hard and cold, as they seldom project expressions like 'thank you', or 'very good', or 'I'll give you something nice after you do this', 'well done', and etc... We criticize the teachers or people who seldom or never express 'positive' encouragement, or motivating actions and speech, praise and compliments to the students after they did 'well' and 'achieved something'. But, these are the great teachers who are actually helping the students to be aware of their ego, to identify the ego, and to be able to eliminate the ego effectively.

For example, in many family cultural bringing up, and in any educational or motivational courses, we believe that it is very wrong and impolite if we do not express 'thankfulness', and to give praise and compliments to others to encourage others to do better and to be better. From young, we were being motivated by 'positive' encouragement, praise, compliment, gratitude, appreciation and 'rewards' from our parents and teachers for us to be doing something good for ourselves. Or else, without any appreciation, acknowledgement, accreditation and promised 'rewards', we would be lack of motivation to do it. For example, the parents like to say "We will give you what you want if you are good," or "We will buy you what you want if you get all 'A' for your exam," or " We won't give you what you want if you don't do or behave as we told."

We will criticize and be disappointed with certain teachers for not saying 'Very good!', or 'You did very well!', or 'Well done!', or 'I'm so proud of you!', or 'You should be proud of yourself!', when we think we did something right and good, as we (the ego) need affirmation from somebody to acknowledge us that 'Yes! I did something right and good' to feel good and to boost up our confidence, and to motivate us to do better and to be better. When we (the ego) don't receive any 'positive' encouraging words, or praise and compliments that we expect to be receiving, we (the ego) will feel disappointed and lack of motivation to do better or to be better. There's endless craving towards receiving acknowledgement, appreciation, attention, love and support from some others.

In traditional yoga practice, we learn to let go of the ego, and no longer need any 'positive' encouragements, praise and compliment, or rewards to motivate us to do better or to be better. Neither will we be demotivated by non-acknowledgement, ungratefulness, inappreciation, 'negative' discouragement, criticism and condemn to be performing all our actions, duties and responsibilities. We do not need to hear 'Thank you!', 'Very good!' or 'Well done!' to affirm us, to feel good and confident about ourselves, nor do we need all these 'positive' encouragement to motivate us to be good or to be better.

Some people complain that the teacher was not good or the class was not good after attending certain yoga classes where the teacher didn't give any 'positive' feedback, encouragements, praise and compliments to anyone on whether the students did well or not. Or, after we did something nice for others, we didn't hear anyone say 'Thank you!', or 'Very good!', or 'Well done!' to us.

Yes, 'dispassionate' yoga classes like that are quite boring and lack of motivations for the worldly passionate egoistic minds. But, yoga practice is indeed transforming the passionate egoistic mind to be dispassionate and be free from the ego and egoism.

What we don't know is that, these are the great yoga classes and great teachers teaching what yoga practice is about - To eliminate the ego. Stop feeding the ego. Stop empowering the ego. Stop giving what the ego wants and likes. Stop gratifying the desire of craving and aversion of the ego. It is starving the ego to its elimination.

Those who have transcended egoism, they don't need anyone to show gratitude, thankfulness, appreciation or acknowledgment for their selfless actions. Neither will they be disturbed or get upset if there's nobody showing gratitude, thankfulness, appreciation or acknowledgment for their actions being performed. They also are not being disturbed or determined by any non-acknowledgement, inappreciation, ungratefulness, and negative criticism or condemn.

We show gratefulness and thankfulness for everything that the universe provides us out of our own free will. But the selfless/egoless universe isn't looking for any gratitude, appreciation, acknowledgment, praise and compliments for all its selfless actions being performed ceaselessly and intentionlessly supporting everyone and everything to be existing.

The elimination of the ego reflects the state of non-duality, going beyond what our worldly mind perception and belief about good and bad, positive and negative, success and failure, praise and condemn, gain and loss, happiness and suffering, meaningfulness and meaninglessness, and this will free us from the egoistic desires of craving and aversion, which is the source of restlessness, unhappiness or suffering.

None and nothing can 'hurt' or 'insult' the mind that has transcended egoism and renounced the fruit of actions, who has realized non-duality, selflessness, attributelessness, namelessness and formlessness.

Om shanti.

Are we really practicing yoga?

We are not really practicing yoga, if the reasoning power is being conditioned by what the mind believes what things are, being influenced by particular social/cultural/religious/political belief, values and practice.

Anything that we believe and judge as 'good' or 'bad' and 'right' or 'wrong' is conditioned by subjective 'standards of belief, values and practice' coming from our own limited perception and recognition about what things are, but it is not coming from the objects themselves.

In different social cultural beliefs, being "fat" can be 'not good' for some people, but can be 'very good' for some other people. What we think is 'not perfect' can be 'perfectly as it is' for some other people.

Things that might seem like "big problems" for us, might be "no problem at all" for some other people.

It is up to us, whether we want our mind to be conditioned by certain beliefs and way of thinking to judge and expect everything to be in certain ways, or not.

We either limiting ourselves by generate a lot of "standards" and "qualities" for ourselves to live up to, or limiting ourselves by allowing other people's "standards" and "qualities" to determine us.

We also apply our own type of "qualities" and "standards" onto everyone and everything, expecting everyone and everything should also comply to these "qualities" and "standards", and be judged by these "qualities" and "standards". We categorize everyone and everything into categories according to our own "standards" of what is 'good' and 'not good'.

We all are free, until the moment we start to apply 'beliefs', 'ideas', 'standards', and 'qualities' onto ourselves and towards other people and everything. Expect ourselves, other people and things have to be like this and not to be like that. Making ourselves not free, and disturbing other people as well.

Just by doing some yoga asana exercises and poses, or pranayama, or studying, discussing, talking, reading and hearing the philosophy of yoga, or chanting and praying in Sanskrit everyday, but without practicing the essential meaning of non-dualism in everyday life, constantly being disturbed, affected and determined by the projected good and bad qualities of names and forms, and generate craving and aversion towards what we like and dislike, agree and disagree with, being over-powered by discrimination, anger, hatred, dissatisfaction, disappointment, fear and worry, not knowing the practice of non-attachment and non-identification, then it is like performing lots of actions improving the function of the mind, the body, the hands, the feet, and the sense organs, having a good condition 'vehicle' with full tank of fuel, but we don't know how to 'drive' this good condition 'vehicle' towards Freedom, or Moksha.

Om shanti.

Freedom?

Most people want to be free. We are born with the basic instinct to be free. There’s always a strong desire towards freedom. If someone is not looking for freedom, it is most probably because they are already free, they don’t need to be free from anything.

In the world, many people want to have freedom of living, expression, thinking, action and speech, freedom to think what they want to think, say what they want to say, behave the way they want to behave, do what they want to do, and go where they want to go, without being limited by restrictions, conditions, rules and regulations, freedom to be what they want to be, freedom to get all the things that they want to get, freedom of choice, freedom of belief, freedom of religion, freedom of education, freedom of arts and cultures, freedom of relationships, freedom of marriage, freedom of lifestyle, freedom of sexual orientation, freedom of opinions and points of view, freedom from crime, violence, injustice, racism, discrimination, prejudice, riot, war, killing, conflict, and corruption, freedom from hell, punishment and imprisonment, freedom from natural disasters, freedom from fear and worry, freedom from unhappiness, sadness, madness, injury, hurt, disappointment, illness, hunger, thirst, weakness, immobility, old age, separation from the people and things that we love, being with the people and things that we don’t like, and mortality. And there are many more that we can think of. It can be anything that makes us think that we are not free, and we want to be free from that which make us not free.

In Yoga and Buddhism absolute freedom or ultimate liberation has very little to do with all these worldly thinking about what freedom is.

The point is, our true nature is always free. There is no need to look for freedom to be free.

What make us think, feel and believe that we are not free is ignorance, being ignorant about the truth of who we really are.

We think and feel that we are not free because we identify with the body and mind as ‘I’, which is conditioned by qualities of names and forms that are subject to impermanence. There is no real and permanent satisfaction that we can attain through this ‘I’.

If we truly know what is freedom, and respect the meanings of freedom, the desire to be free from all the above ‘what we think that which make us not free’ will vanish, as we are free.

We allow and respect everything and everyone to be what they are, as they are, without trying to control things or beings to be what we want them to be, or what we think they should be.

The perception of ‘not being free’ and the desire to be ‘free’, comes from the mind being ignorant about the truth. Egoism is the side product of ignorance. Attachment, craving and aversion, are the side products of egoism. Fear and worry, anger and hatred, and all the other impurities that we perceive as ‘suffering’ are the side products of attachment, craving and aversion.

In Yoga and Buddhism, if we want to be free, we go to the root cause of ‘what makes us not free’ and remove that root cause. We only need to bring the mind to be free from ignorance and egoism, to realize the truth, then all the other impurities that arise due to ignorance and egoism, will vanish.

There is no need to be free from anything that our impure mind used to think and believe made us not free.

Being free from being conditioned by conditional and limited function of the mind, and the perceptions of the qualities of names and forms through the function of the body and the senses, is what true freedom is about. It is not about being free from all the conditions and qualities that we think are causing us to be ‘not free’.

It’s like when we say somebody’s ‘speech’ is hurtful and bad, and make us feel hurt and bad, it is not the truth. It is not the ‘speech’, nor the person who made the ‘speech’ that cause us to feel hurt and bad. It is the perception of our own mind when comes in contact with the speech, and generates reaction towards the speech. The intellect recognizes, analyzes and understands the speech as something ‘hurtful’ and ‘bad’, because that is what our mind is being conditioned to think and believe what things are. Then the ego generates aversion towards what our mind dislikes and disagrees with, and generates unpleasant feelings of what the mind perceives as ‘hurt’ and ‘bad’.

Our mind is conditioned to function, act and react in certain ways.

Yoga and meditation practice is here for us to change this conditional habit of the mind, or to deprogram and reprogram how the mind acts and reacts upon coming into contact with the objects of the senses. This will change how the mind perceives, thinks, acts and reacts. This is the way to ultimate freedom.

It is not about avoiding, or pushing away, or eliminating the conditions and qualities that make us feel ‘not free’, but to be free from being conditioned, or determined by the thinking and beliefs in the mind, thinking and believing it is those conditions and qualities that make us ‘not free’.

When we are free, naturally other beings also will be free from being hurt, or affected and disturbed by us, as we stop reacting the way that we used to react when we were not free, and won’t generate any harmful or disturbing thoughts, action and speech, if we know the truth of freedom and are free. This is compassion.

Real and absolute freedom is in the moment when we realize the truth, being free from ignorance, egoism, and impurities. In other terms, the mind is free from suffering, restlessness or anxiety that derives from attachment, or craving and aversion towards the good and bad conditions and qualities, which are subject to impermanence. There is no craving and clinging to the good conditions and qualities. There is no fear and worry, or aversion towards the bad conditions and qualities.

What we think and believe is ‘not free’, is no longer something ‘not free’. That is freedom.

Being free from being conditioned, or affected, or disturbed, or influenced, or determined by what the mind perceives through the senses of what it sees, hears, smells, tastes, touches and thinks. That is freedom.

Being free from being conditioned or determined by the impermanent conditions and abilities of the physical body and the states of the mind. Being free from the identification with body and mind as ‘I’. That is freedom.

Totally surrender to the universal consciousness. Accept the reality as it is, without trying to control, or change any reality that we don’t like, into what we would like it to be, or what we think it should be. Just give, do our best, and allow the fruit of our actions to be what it is. Without expecting the result to be the way that we think it should be.

Being free from duality and separateness that derives from ignorance and egoism, which is also the root cause of all types of suffering, unpeacefulness, restlessness, anxiety, fear and worry.

Om shanti.

"Are you a Buddhist?" or "Are you a yogi?" - An invalid question

"Are you a Buddhist?" or "Are you a yogi?"

These questions is like asking, "Are you selfless?"

The basic teachings of Buddhism and yoga are the same. It's all about realizing the truth about names and forms, remove dualism, egoism and ignorance, and transcends suffering.

It's about non-separateness or all is one.

It's about namelessness and formlessness, beyond all the differences of quality and appearance, colours and shapes.

It's about non-identification with the qualities of names and forms.

It's about unconditional peace, wisdom and compassion.

There's no difference between this type of teaching and that type of teaching, if it brings us to realize the truth to transcend names and forms, the egoism and ignorance, and realize unconditional peace, wisdom and compassion.

And so, when somebody ask this question to a person who is really practicing the teachings of Buddhism, or who is really practicing the teachings of yoga, then this question is invalid, just like asking a selfless person, "Are you selfless?"

Whenever we identify ourselves as a "Buddhist" or a "Yogi", we actually generate separateness between 'I' being a Buddhist or a yogi and with those who are not a Buddhist or a yogi.

We can call ourselves anything that we like, and can be anything that we want. But whether we are truly practicing the teachings or not, only ourselves will know.

I can call myself a "Buddhist" or a "yogi", give myself an appearance of a "Buddhist" or a "yogi", and behave like a "Buddhist" or a "yogi" should be behaving, but it doesn't mean anything.

If I am really practicing Buddhism or yoga, I don't need to name or call myself a "Buddhist" or a "yogi".

It is everyone's freedom to call us whatever they think what we are to them.

If people think I am a Buddhist, let them call me a "Buddhist".

If people think I am a yogi, let them call me a "yogi".

But that's not what I really am.

I am neither a "Buddhist" nor a "yogi", nor a "yoga teacher", nor a "good person", nor a "happy person", although from the appearance of what I am doing, I seem to be like a "Buddhist", or a "yogi", or a "yoga teacher", or some people might perceive me as a "good person" or "happy person".

Call myself anything that I like, but that won't change nor determine who I am.

Om shanti.

The truth of things is not necessarily what we think it is...

If our mind is being contaminated or influenced by so many impurities such like anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, dissatisfaction, pride, arrogance, disappointment, fear, worry, craving and aversion, and etc, then whatever we perceive in the mind through the senses of what we see, hear, smell, taste, touch and think, is not necessarily the truth of things or it is not what we think it is... Instead we will project our own imaginations onto things base on what our mind wants to believe or think what it should be, but it's not really what it is...

It is like when one person wears a red tinted glasses will see or perceive something blue as purple colour, and another person wears a yellow tinted glasses will see or perceive something red as orange colour, but it is not the truth of what it really is...

When our mind is being influenced by one or many impurities, then whatever we perceive through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind of what we see, hear, smell, taste, touch and think will be contaminated by these impurities. It is not necessarily what we think or believe what it is...

And so, if our mind is not free from impurities, then how can we judge and criticize anyone or anything with this contaminated impure mind?

And when a mind is pure, is being free from impurities, then this pure mind will perceive the truth of everyone and everything as it is, without any judgments or criticisms... With a pure mind, there is no perception of qualities of good and bad, but everything is just being what it is... All dualities or qualities of names and forms disappear. And hence, what is left is just what things really are. They are not something good or bad. They are not something positive or negative. They are not something happiness or suffering.

When the mind is pure, there is no more craving towards something that was being perceived as "good, positive and happiness" through "the impure mind". There is no more aversion towards something that was being perceived as "bad, negative and suffering" through "the impure mind". And hence, there is no restlessness or unhappiness or fear and worry that arise due to craving and aversion is not being gratified, as there is no craving or aversion...

This is true freedom. This is what all the yoga practice is about. It is for us to purify the mind to eliminate impurities, so that the mind is able to perceive the truth of things as it is, and be free from craving and aversion which derive from ignorance and attachment towards the qualities of things that come from projection of the impure mind onto the names and forms that it perceives, which is the cause of restlessness and unhappiness.

Just by being good doesn't guarantee us peace and happiness if the mind is not free from impurities. We can be doing a lot of good actions and try not to do any bad actions, but still we are not really peaceful or happy because we are still being affected or disturbed by anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, dissatisfaction, disappointment, agitation, depression, pride, arrogance, craving and aversion, fear and worry, if we are identified with the impure mind or the ego, and thinking that "I" am experiencing all these reactions of the mind towards whatever it perceives through the senses, as the mind attached to the qualities of these names and forms, and generates craving and aversion towards qualities that it likes and doesn't like... It is only when the mind is free from all these impurities, craving and aversion, naturally peace and happiness is there...

Om shanti.

Be happy.

Watching the ego, every moment...

Sometimes we might say this, "I want my teacher to be like this with such and such "image" and "qualities" that I like and agree with... I don't want my teacher to be like that with such and such "image" and "qualities" that I don't like and don't agree with..."

And, "I want my teacher to teach me the way that I want to be taught or like to be taught..."

Or as a teacher we might say this, "I want to teach the way that I want to be taught or like to be taught..."

Can we "see" how the ego plays in these "thoughts expressions"?

It is all about "me" or "I", "What I want" and "What I like"...

A student comes to a teacher to learn something from the teacher, but the student is expecting the teacher to "meet up with" his expectation about how the teacher should teach and what to teach? Or else, he will judge and criticize about this teacher is a "bad" teacher...

Knowing that we need to learn about something from somebody whom we have not known yet, we will have an intention to look out for a teacher... But, naturally we will start judging the teacher from his "appearance", his "speech", his "character", his "background", his "lineage", his "teachers", his "experience", his "success", his "name and fame", his "qualifications", his "knowledge", his "poise", his "way" of teaching, or his "way" of doing things, before we "choose" him and "accept" him as our teacher, because we would like to have a "good" teacher... We are "judging" this person/teacher whether he is "qualified" and "good enough" to teach us or not...? We are trying to find a teacher that fit into our "imagination", "standard" or "expectation" about how a "good" teacher should be like, or "the type of teacher" that we like to have... Or maybe the teacher is also looking at the student whether this person/student is "qualified" enough to learn from him or not? The teacher is trying to find a student that fit into his "imagination", "standard" or "expectation" about how a "good" student should be like, or "the type of student" that he likes to have...

Hmmm...

It seems like we think we "know" more than what we think anybody knows (and among these people that we "judge", is the person who we will choose to be our teacher)... That's why we are so arrogant to think that we are "knowledgeable" enough to judge whether anyone is, or will be a good teacher or not... If so, how come we still need to look out for a teacher, if we think we "know" more than all these people out there when we start "judging" them?

If we are sincere and humble, we will see everyone and everything as our teachers, and we will respect all teachers without any judgment and expectation, and not "categorizing" and "labeling" them as "good" or "bad" teachers... We will take the teacher as he is and accept the teacher as he is, even if he is not the way that we think he should be...

If we truly know what is humility, it is also because we have found the greatest teacher above all, our higher Self... But not everyone has met this teacher yet, and still searching for a teacher or teachers...

There is no good or bad about the way of how the teachers teach, there is only whether the students are being humble and open-minded, or being proud and arrogant, and closed-minded...

As the one who is truly humble and open-minded will not criticize about anyone or anything, especially his teachers... And since all is his teachers, there is nobody or nothing to be criticized about...

And as a teacher, if he is humble and compassionate enough, he won't be judging the students as "good" or "bad" students, nor judging himself as "good" or "bad" teacher... And if the teacher is humble and wise, he won't be affected nor determined by how the students "judge" him, whether the judgment is "positive" or "negative", "praise" or "condemn"...

If the teacher is selfless, he is not identified with the image or identity as a "teacher", not to say the tags or labels of "good" and "bad"... He is not attached to his action of teaching, and is not attached to the fruit of his action of teaching...

Watching our ego, every moment...

Watch out, when we have this idea of "I am a good teacher" or "I am a good student" or "I am a good person", or "I want to be (acknowledged as) a good teacher" or "I don't want to be (acknowledged as) a bad teacher"... So much judgment coming from ourselves judging ourselves... When in yoga, we are supposed to be practicing letting go of all judgments and identifications to know what is selflessness...

To whom, we are good? To whom, we are bad? In whose standard, we are good? In whose standard, we are bad? Judge by what? Judge by whom? The universe doesn't judge anyone, who are we to judge ourselves or anyone, or to be judged?

Be happy.

Om shanti.

Letting go of all the worldly identifications, attachments, qualities and dualities... and be free...

If we are sincere in learning and practicing yoga, and want to attain yoga or unconditional real peace, we need to let go of any worldly identifications about what we think we are...

If we still have identification with worldly qualities and conditions of names and forms, and still think that we are somehow more superior or inferior than anyone due to our family background, race, religion, belief, values, spiritual achievement, social status, financial status, job title, political influences, educational background, personal image, professional image, intelligence, talents, creativity, physical and mental health and fitness conditions, physical and mental abilities, lifestyle, popularity, worldly achievements, social contributions or any forms of identity, then know that no matter how long we have been "practicing yoga", or how much "yoga poses" that we can perform perfectly and beautifully, or how much we have heard, read and know about what is yoga and its practice, it shows that we are not really practicing yoga at all...

If we still have this idea or thought about "I am somehow better than somebody" or "I am somehow less good than somebody", or "Somebody is better than me" or "Somebody is less good than me", know that we are not practicing yoga at all...

If we still have this identification about "I am or am not good or bad", "I do or don't do good or bad", "I did or didn't do good or bad", "I deserve or don't deserve goodness or badness", "I receive or don't receive something good or bad" or "I give or don't give something good or bad", know that we are not practicing yoga at all...

If we still have this idea or thought about "Somebody (who is not I) is or isn't good or bad", "Somebody does or doesn't do good or bad", "Somebody did or didn't do good or bad", "Somebody deserves or doesn't deserve good or bad", "Somebody receives or doesn't receive something good or bad" or "Somebody gives or doesn't give something good or bad", know that we are not practicing yoga at all...

Even though everyday we devote a few hours into "yoga and meditation practice"...

Letting go of the identification as the doer of actions and inactions, and letting go of the identification as the enjoyer of the fruit of the actions and inactions, is practicing yoga...

Letting go of attachment and judgment towards all the qualities and conditions of names and forms, is practicing yoga...

Once we truly let go of all these identifications, attachments, qualities and dualities, we will know the truth of ourselves, of who we really are, about what we think is 'I'... And be free...

Just by reading, hearing, knowing and talking about the word "detachment" and "non-identification" doesn't mean anything, doesn't bring us liberation, unless we really practice detachment and non-identification, by letting go of attachments and identifications...

Most of the time, "we" are afraid of letting go of all these worldly identifications because our ego depends or feeds on all these identifications to be "somebody", to be existing... That's why "we" keep attached strongly onto all these identifications and reluctant to let them go, even though we know that the yoga teachings and the practice is there "asking" us to "please let go of all these worldly identifications..."

Om shanti.

Self-realization is knowing the nature of the mind as it is, without being contaminated nor conditioned by all the qualities of names and forms...

There are contradictions or confusions about whether there is "something" to be realized or there is nothing to be "realized" in the spiritual path towards self-realization.

There is, and there's not.

When "we" are deluded by ignorance in our mind and are identifying with the impermanent qualities of names and forms of this body and this mind, then "we" need to "realize" who "we" really are, or the thinking mind needs to know Thyself. This "we" is the thinking mind.

When the mind is free from ignorance, and "we" are not being determined by all the qualities of names and forms of this body and this mind, then there is nothing to be "realized". We are what we are. We are not something else that we are not. We are not becoming, or turning, or changing into something else that we are not.

The space is always the same space, colourless. Whether there are some colourful substances spread into the space and make the space appears to be colourful, or when all the colourful substances are abstracted and what left is just the colourless space. But it is still the same space. Never increase nor decrease. Never became colourful nor colourless. It never changed, even though from the appearance it changes colour depending on what type of colours fills up the space at that moment.

The space is always the same space, odourless. Whether there are different fragrances or smells exist in the space, and through the sense of smell we smell different types of fragrances or smells in the space, but the space itself has no fragrances or smells, it does not smell of any fragrances or smells. It will not be contaminated, nor conditioned, nor changed into something else by whatever types of odour that passing by.

The only "hindrance" that "hinders" us (the thinking mind) from knowing our true nature (the nature of the mind) is ignorance.

When ignorance presents in the mind, "we" think "we" are the modification of the mind, "we" think "we" are the body. "We" think "we existing as an individual being" are the one who is doing the thinking, feeling, sensing, recognizing, analyzing, asserting, choosing, deciding, like and dislike, want and don't want, believing and disbelieving, agreeing and disagreeing, happy and suffering. "We" think "we" are the one who is the doer of the actions and inactions that comes from the body and the mind. "We" think "we" are the one who is enjoying the fruit of all the actions and inactions. We are ignorant towards our true nature which is not contaminated nor determined by all the actions and inactions of this body and this mind.

When the mind is absent of ignorance, all the qualities of names and forms including the impermanent conditions of this body and this mind, they are just being what they are. They are not something "good". They are not something "bad". They are not something "positive". They are not something "negative". They are not something "happiness". They are not something "suffering".

And thus, if "someone" who is still being conditioned and affected by all the qualities of names and forms that are being perceived in the mind through the body and the function of the senses, and is identifying with the actions and inactions of the body and the mind, and is associating with all the reactions of the body and mind towards what they perceive or come in contact with, and is experiencing happiness and unhappiness in all these experiences that arising and passing away from moment to moment, then this "being" needs to "realize" the nature of the mind, of what or who the mind really is. And be free. Free from restlessness that derives from being ignorant of not knowing who "we" really are, or the mind is ignorant towards the truth of itself. That's all.

Om shanti.

The importance of Mauna & Uparati - The practice of silence & renunciation from worldy activities

This practice of silence and renunciation from worldly activities is applicable for those who sincerely want to tread the path of entering into silence or attaining Samadhi - the ultimate freedom and real peace transcending the ego and the mind, transcending the perception of the world of names and forms, dualities and qualities, and be free from desires, greed, craving and aversion, and thus be free from ignorance and suffering. This practice will come naturally for those who already have the right discrimination about what is real and unreal. Naturally they will let go of chasing after of the unreal, and will know to appreciate and utilize the existence of this body and mind for what is real...

Any names and forms that is formed through combination of energy and elements, it is not real... It has a beginning and an end... It exists and will stop existing... It is conditioned by qualities of names and forms... It is impermanent and constantly changing... It is non-Self. There's no existence of 'I' in the names and forms to be in control of all these impermanent changes.

What is real, is beyond qualities, names and forms... And thus it doesn't has a beginning or ending. It doesn't exist or stop existing. It is attributeless, it is not conditioned by qualities of names and forms. It is not affected by impermanence and it doesn't change...

This practice of Mauna and Uparati is not just applicable and limited to the so called monks and nuns who leave the world to concentrate on their own Self-realization. The real renunciation is not conditioned by any names and forms, but it is happening in the mind, and it can be at anywhere and anytime, and in anyone...

People who know real renunciation can live in the midst of the world but will not be affected, nor influenced, nor determined, nor disturbed, nor conditioned by the world of names and forms... They are free from ignorance, egoism, anger, hatred, greed, desire, dissatisfaction, craving and aversion, anxiety, restlessness, fear and worry. Out of compassion and wisdom that they realize from Self-realization, they can perform so much works or actions to help the other beings to be free, to transcend the ego and the mind, ignorance and suffering... But without being affected by the fruit of their actions.

For people who really wish to attain success in the path of yoga and meditation, the practice of Mauna (silence) and Uparati (cessation from worldly activities) are very important practice to turn the outgoing tendency of the mind inward, in order to render the mind calm and be free from restlessness and unnecessary anxieties, cares and worries for Self-introspection or Self-inquiry.

The practice of Mauna and Uparati maybe seen as "anti-social" in the eyes of the worldly people, but it is a must if we really want to go deeper in the path of yoga and meditation to know the Truth of our existence and to attain real peace. Those whose minds are wild, incontrollable, restless and passionate are not yet ready to meditate, to contemplate upon the Truth... There is nothing wrong or bad about the mind being restless and passionate... Just keep practice purification of the mind and strengthening self-control...

That's why all the (serious) meditation retreats for people who live in the busy world to immerse themselves in meditation practice for purifying and calming the mind, and to contemplate on the Truth, they have two most important observations which are, to observe silence or Mauna (to stop any interactions and communications with the world verbally, mentally and physically) and to refrain from worldly or daily habitual activities throughout the entire retreat. This is to allow the mind to quiet down, to take a few moments of "rest"... Within that few moments of "rest", the mind is calm and quiet, be free from anxiety, restlessness, imaginations and speculations, and naturally, without any intention to know the Truth, the Truth will reveal itself...

Only a calm and pure mind can reflect upon the Truth without the influence of the ego, the thinking, impurities, judgments and expectations...

For people who really devote this life existence for Self-realization, and they know self-control, non-attachment and renunciation, they can live in the busy world, but being undisturbed, unaffected, uninfluenced, unconditioned, undetermined by the world, and practice meditation entering into silence. The world is always restless, but they are not influenced by the world. Their mind is at rest all the time... They are different from those who need to go to retreat centres repeatedly to have some sorts of "momentary" self-control, non-attachment and renunciation in the retreat centres, to find some moments of peace, but when come back out into the world, there is no self-control, nor non-attachment, nor renunciation, and there is no peace...

In the path of yoga (mind control), these two practices are unavoidable if we really want to know about this mind (the existence of "I" (the perceiver) and all the enjoyments and suffering (the perceived) that comes along with the existence of this "I"), and to be able to go beyond this mind and to transcend the ego, craving and aversion, and ignorance or impurities, as well as transcending all the qualities of names and forms (the state of duality that derives from the perception of names and forms).

Fear and worry, anger and hatred, greed and dissatisfaction, envy and jealousy, doubts and ignorance, craving and aversion, passionate desires, the attachments towards the body and mind, the attachments towards all the names and forms that are being perceived through this mind and body with the functions of the senses and sense organs, the wrong identification with the body and mind, the sensations, the feelings, the thinkings and the egoistic "I-ness" and "mine-ness"... - All these impurities "disconnect" us from our true nature, the eternal unconditional, attributeless wisdom, bliss and peace.

We think we are "this" or "that" with certain names and forms, behaviors, believes, religions, educations, cultures, habits, hobbies, talents, characteristics and personalities. We think we have something called "self-esteem" that is being determined by who we are and what we are, what we do and don't do, what we can do and cannot do, and what we judge ourselves and others. We think we need to have certain qualities to create or develop something what we name as "confidence" in us.

The truth is, once we know this mind and what is this ego, then all the so called "self-esteem" and "confidence", and all the other qualities of good and bad, happiness and suffering, names and forms that we use to judge ourselves and everyone and everything in this world, they all will disappear... They don't exist at all...

There is no "I"... There is no "self-esteem" or "confidence"... There is no need to have "self-esteem" or "confidence" to feel that we are "somebody" or to make us become "somebody"...

"Self-esteem" and "confidence" exist when we think we are this body and mind, and we are "somebody" with certain qualities, names and forms...

When we truly know our true Self, the existent of "I" with certain qualities, names and forms, will disappear... Our true Self is nameless and formless, beyond names and forms... There is no good and bad. There is no positive and negative. There is no happiness and suffering...

In order to know our true Self, not just from reading books written by enlightened beings, or having heard from past saints and sages, or from some existing teachers or Gurus telling us about "who we really are", we need to be able to observe the practice of Mauna and Uparati in some stage in our life... Just to take some "time off" from worldly activities and interactions... For the mind to have the opportunity to be free from restlessness, unnecessary cares and worries, to concentrate and focus inwardly for introspection, for self-inquiry, for self-realization, for experiencing the real inner peace, for knowing the Truth of existence and suffering...

Note that this real inner peace is not the momentary peaceful good feeling that comes from doing some meditation, asana and pranayama practice, or by not encountering any discomforts, pain and illnesses, or by doing the things that we like to do, or by getting the things that we want, where by this type of peaceful good feeling is conditioning and limited by the qualities of names and forms, and it is impermanent, it will change and disappear...

The real inner peace is unconditional, unlimited, undisturbed and unchanging... It is always there. Never increase nor decrease... Never exist nor doest it stop existing...

This renunciation is not selfishness as some people might think that it is... This is definitely not running away from our duties and responsibilities... It's because the biggest duty and responsibility in this existence of "I", is to know who am "I"... If we don't know "who we really are", we will have no peace, no wisdom, no compassion... And we cannot help other people to have peace, wisdom and compassion, if we ourselves are not peaceful, not wise, and not compassionate... If we want to help the world, we need to help ourselves first...

When this mind is restless, wild and uncontrollable, it makes us think that we are experiencing all the enjoyments and suffering in this world of names and forms with qualities of good and bad, pleasantness and unpleasantness...

When the mind is pure and be free from all sorts of impurities and ignorance, we'll know that there is "nobody" there to experience "anything"... The world is just being what it is being "projected" from this mind... It is the mind projecting the "world"... When the mind stops, the world disappears... When the mind ceased existing, there is no "world"...

Impure mind projects impure world of names and forms... Positive mind projects positive world... Negative mind projects negative world... Fearful mind projects fearful world... Angry and hating mind projects angry and hating world... Compassionate mind projects compassionate world... Calm mind projects calm world... Pure mind projects pure world... No mind, no world...

The world is just being what it is. It is neither good nor bad, neither pure nor impure, neither positive nor negative, neither a happy place nor a suffering place.

Yoga and meditation is to "annihilate" the mind, to "eliminate" the ego, the thought waves or the mind activities...

It doesn't matter if some worldly passionate minds think that this practice of Mauna and Uparati is impossible, contradictory, unnecessary and means no more "fun" in life... Everyone has the freedom to choose what to do in life and what way of living... Be happy.

The meanings of life and ways of living are vary in everybody...

The Buddha and all the other saints and sages chose to live a simple, self-controlled, desire-less and non-attachment way of life and find that entering into silence and attaining real peace is the meaning of life... And some other people choose some other forms of lifestyle and find that by attaining another form of excitement, enjoyment and happiness as the meaning of life... There's nothing wrong... Be happy.

Contemplate on this teaching and be free...

Om shanti.

Be free from anger and hatred...

When compassion exists, there's no anger and hatred...

If anger and hatred exist, there's no compassion...

There's no peace...

If we "think" we are good beings and are hating other beings that are not as "good" as we are, then obviously compassion is not there, even if we are "good"...

No matter how much we want to show our love to the "good things" that we love, and think that we are good beings and are being "compassionate", but at the same time, if we are hating other beings who are damaging the "good things" that we love, then what we thought was "compassion" in us is not really compassion at all...

Maybe we are good and want to promote "goodness", but it's not necessarily that we are being compassionate, if there is anger and hatred in us towards something that what we think is "bad" and "evil"...

There's no peace if anger and hatred exist in us even if we are "good" and love being "good"...

We try to, and want to be compassionate, but where is compassion when we are over-powered by anger and hatred?

We try to, and want to be in peace, but how can there be peace, when anger and hatred is there...

When anger and hatred disappear, compassion is there, peace is there...

Peace is never separated from compassion...

They exist together, they "come" together and they "leave" together...

Compassion and peace don't belong to "good" nor "evil"...

Compassion and peace are beyond good and evil...

It's beyond all the qualities and dualities of names and forms...

********

May all be in peace...

Be free from anger and hatred...

Where does happy feeling or sensation comes from when we feel happy?

When the mind is being one-pointedness being in the present moment now, at that moment the mind is free from the past experiences/memories and free from the future projections/imaginations/anticipations. And thus, there is no judgments, comparisons and expectations, free from duality of good and bad, positive and negative, pleasantness and unpleasantness. And thus the mind is free from craving and aversion, doubts, fear and worry... At that moment, peace is there. Blissful feeling of happiness is there...

The truth is, it is not the objects or happenings out there that give us the state of mind of peace and happiness. It is not what we do or don't do that make our mind feel happy or unhappy.

All the objects, happenings, names and forms (sights, sounds, smells, taste, touch, thinking/thoughts) out there, they have no qualities or intentions to make us happy or not happy, peaceful or not peaceful. It is the one-pointedness state of the mind that is free from craving and aversion, free from greed and dissatisfaction when we do the things or get in contact with the things that we like and want, that generates the (momentary) peace and happiness in the mind. When the mind loses it one-pointedness due to impermanence or disturbance from other objects, names and forms, that momentary peace and happiness will be disturbed and fade away. Emptiness or dissatisfaction/greed/craving for some other satisfaction and happy feelings immediately take over the experience of momentary contentment, peace and happiness that comes from one-pointedness or concentration of the mind.

That's why different people find (momentary) peace and happiness in many different ways by doing the things and getting the objects that they like and want. Some people feel good from doing good actions and enjoy doing good actions. Some people feel good from doing evil actions and enjoy doing evil actions. It is not the good actions or the evil actions that give us the good and happy feelings. It is the one-pointedness state of mind while doing any actions that gives us the momentary state of satisfaction and happy sensation in the mind.

We often hear people say that there are many different ways or methods of how to be happy in life. There's nothing wrong with this saying. We do get (momentary) happy feelings or sensations when we are able to do the things that we like to do, when we can get the things that we like, when we can enjoy some precious moments with our family and friends, when we can do some charity works helping other beings, when we can contribute to the society and the world through many ways, when we can live a good quality and healthy lifestyle, when we can enjoy active social life and interactions with one another, when we can live our life meaningfully by doing the things that we like to do and want to do, achieve our goals and dreams, or attain some sort of power, material belongings, name and fame, and etc...

Definitely, there will be momentary happy feelings and satisfaction coming from doing or attaining all the things being mentioned in the above. In the teachings of yoga and meditation, this type of momentary happy feelings and satisfaction is called conditional happiness and satisfaction that is conditioned and determined by the qualities of the external objects, happenings, names and forms. It will be disturbed by some other objects, greed, dissatisfaction, craving and aversion, and it will fade away. This momentary satisfaction and happy feeling is conditioned and determined by what we like and dislike, want and don't want, and what we agree and disagree with. When our craving for certain things is being gratified, our mind experience contentment and feel good. And when the craving is not being gratified, the mind experience discontentment and doesn't feel good.

There is no doubt that there are many ways and methods to be happy in life, but what really generates the happy feelings or sensations in us is because of the mind is being in the present moment, free from the past or the future, free from craving and aversion for that time being when the momentary satisfaction arise due to we are able to do and getting the things that we like and want, or when we come in contact with the objects that we agree with.

This type of momentary conditional happiness is not the unchangeable real happiness that the teachings of yoga and meditation talk about. Those who really practice yoga and meditation will not waste energy in chasing after all these momentary happiness and satisfaction that are impermanent, changeable, dissatisfying, and are conditioned and limited by the different qualities of names and forms. The real peace and happiness is already there within us, never increase nor decrease, never disappear, undisturbed or unaffected or undetermined by impermanent conditional external objects, happenings, names and forms. We just need to purify our mind to remove impurities and ignorance, calming the restless agitated state of mind, and we will realize this true and eternal peace and happiness that is always there with us and never leave us.

Realize this Truth, we will stop looking out for momentary peace and happiness and we will rest in peace and happiness that is already there in us that is unconditional, unlimited and undisturbed by any external objects, happenings, names and forms.

It also means that, no matter what is the condition of our body and the mind, or the condition of our life, the environment and the entire worldly existence, we will always rest in peace in our true Self or true nature. That is the means of yoga and meditation practice...

All the names and forms are just being what they are. They are not something good or bad, positive or negative, happiness or suffering...

The pure and calm mind that is free from the influence of the ego and the intellect (being free from selfish intentions, judgment, comparison, expectation, craving, aversion, dissatisfaction, greed, pride, arrogance, anger, hatred, jealousy, fear and worry, and all sorts of impurities) will be able to perceive the reality of everything as it is, not necessary the way that we want it to be or the way that we think it should be...

There is no craving for something that is being categorized by the intellect as good, positive and happy. There is no aversion towards something that is being categorized by the intellect as bad, negative and suffering.

Suffering disappears. Unhappiness disappears. Fear and worry disappear.

When there is no suffering, unhappiness, fear and worry, there's no need to looking for peace and happiness, because peace and happiness is already there...

The moment when the craving for peace and happiness, as well as the aversion towards unpeacefulness and unhappiness stop, that moment is peaceful...

Peaceful feeling or sensation that comes from being with the people that we like and agree with, by getting or coming in contact with the objects that we like and want or desire, and being in a pleasant environment, it's conditional, it's limited, it's impermanent. It will change, be disturbed and disappear. It is dissatisfying in its nature.

When we stop attaching to this peace and happy feeling or sensation that are conditioned and limited by external objects, happenings, names and forms, we will rest in the unconditional and unlimited peace in our true nature.

If we depend on certain good conditions or objects to feel peace and happiness, then very soon we will be disappointed and being unhappy when impermanence strikes.

The essential teachings in yoga and meditation is to realize the Truth about we are not the body, we are not the mind. This body and this mind don't belong to us, and they are not us.

There is not a thing that is "I". There is no "I" am performing some actions or not performing any actions. There is no "I" there to go through birth, growth, decay, old age, sickness, and death. There is no "I" there being happy or unhappy.

It is just the body and mind being existing, changing and eventually will stop existing.

There is no "I" there to experience all the perceptions of sights, sounds, smells, taste, touch and thinking/thoughts. It is just the body and mind experiencing all these impermanent names and forms.

There's no "I" there to experience all sorts of emotions, feelings and sensations, pleasant and unpleasant experiences.

There is no "I" being good or not good.

There is no "I" there to have fear, worry, doubts, dissatisfaction, craving, aversion, pride, arrogance, to be happy or sad, to be praised or censured, to be positive or negative, to be healthy or sick, to be strong or weak, to experience success or failure, respectful or disrespectful, auspiciousness or inauspiciousness, completeness or incompleteness, and to be loved or to love...

All the qualities, dualities, names and forms disappear.

There is no arguments, criticisms or justifications.

The mind is resting in silence...

That is when we realize the Truth of ourselves and the entire worldly existence...

Om shanti.

No matter what we do or don't do to find peace and happiness in life, true and lasting happiness is there when we are free from being conditioned and determined by all the external objects of names and forms, and when we are free from being determined by judgment and expectation coming from our own self and other people, and when we are free from the attachment towards our actions and the fruit of our actions...

mp3 audio file - Recording from yoga retreat held on June 7th - 10th, 2011

This was a mp3 recording from one of the retreat's guests Angela, during the intensive yoga retreat held from June 7th - 10th, 2011.

The entire retreat took place at Senari Bay Resort which is located just right in front of the ocean.

Thanks to Angela and all the other retreat participants in sharing this yoga class with all.

Please click on the link below to download the mp3 file.

http://www.yoganowmalaysia.com/mengfoongyogaclass.mp3

Be happy,

Meng Foong

Want to learn and practice yoga? Learn to put down the ego first...

In the old times when a person approached a yoga Guru or yoga teacher with the intention to learn about yoga and wanted to practice yoga, he would be very humble and patient to serve this Guru or teacher for many years.

It was actually a great process of purification for the mind, as well as eradicating the ego.

The Guru or the teacher didn’t teach him any so called yoga and meditation practices, not until his ego was eradicated and his mind was free from impurities. He would only be asked to observe some code of conducts (morality) and to do any works in the house or in the ashram as selfless service or Karma yoga (unattached to the action and the result of the action), to purify the mind and to eradicate the ego – This is also the practice of non-attachment.

By this stage, he had actually finished most of his yoga practice (attaining the state of selflessness), which was through purifying the mind, and be free from the ego and impurities. Naturally he would already have the wisdom and a clear mind to digest and absorb whatever the Guru or the teacher wanted to teach him.

And with a desire-less, pure and calm mind that didn’t wavering here and there, he could easily meditate in a firm and steady asana seat, his breath was naturally rendering calm, he could observe the mind and go beyond the mind effortlessly, not being disturbed by all the names and forms (sights, sounds, smells, taste, touch and thoughts), and attain the highest state of pure consciousness, pure existence, pure knowledge and pure bliss.

That’s why Sat Guru Swami Sivananda taught us to mind our own fundamental practice of purifying the mind and eradicating the ego, and everything will fall into place for us naturally when the mind is free from impurities and when the ego is eradicated.

When the mind is free from impurities and the ego is eradicated, we are our own Guru, our very own teacher… Here is where the path of Self-realization begins.

If we still need a Guru or a teacher to tell us and guide us what do we need to do or to answer the doubts in our mind due to ignorance, then we are still on the outside of the path of Self-realization.

Yoga = Selflessness = Ego-less = Unconditional and unlimited compassion and wisdom = Eternal peace = Yoga

If our “yoga and meditation practice” did not bring us towards ego-less or selflessness, compassion and wisdom, then that is because we haven’t go through the initial process of purification of the mind and eradication of the ego yet. It’s like a container without a closing bottom underneath, no matter how much water we pour into the container, the container can never hold any water in it.

If we put some very tasty food into a bowl that is full of dirts and impurities, then the food will be contaminated and doesn’t taste good anymore. Clean the bowl first, then we can put any food into it, and the food will be free from contamination of dirts and impurities, and will taste as good as it is.

Purify the mind, and all our doubts about everything will be disappearing by itself. The Truth will reveal itself to us naturally when the mind is calm and free from impurities. We will perceive everything as it is, not necessary the way that we want it to be perceived, or the way that we want it to be…

When the mind is pure, there is nothing can affect, or disturb, or influence, or determine us. We are what we are, as we are. We are not “this”, we are not “that”. We are not “happy” nor “suffering”. We are not “good” nor “bad”.

Want to be able to control or to change everything to be the way that we like it to be? Think again...

Though not everyone, but most people feel that we are born to be powerless, limited and not free, because by having this conditional impermanent physical body with the ignorant impure mind functioning in this world, experiencing dualism that comes along under the mind perception of names and forms, having craving and aversion towards the pleasant and unpleasant experiences, going through many encountering and situations which are not what we like and want, nor what we can agree with and are acceptable. And thus, we feel frustrated, depressed, suffered and unhappy being conditioned and limited by many things that are not in our control as what we think how it should be or what we would like it to be.

That's why many of us (the ego) wanted to rebel. We (the ego) resist to be limited and conditioned by "things" that are not in our control and "things" that we don't like and don't want. We want everything to be the way as what we want them to be, or else we are not satisfied, not happy, not peaceful whenever we see, or hear, or smell, or taste, or touch, or think about names and forms that we don't agree with, don't like and don't want...

In fact, we think that if we want to be free from being controlled by "things", then what we have to do is, to be able to control "things" to be the way that we like them to be. To be the one who is in power and in charge of "things", instead of "things" being out of our control, which makes us (the ego) feel weak, defeated and insecure.

That's why some people tried to practice some sort of "psychic power" in order to "make" all their wishes come true (good or evil), and they (the ego) will feel - "Yes! We are the one who are in control of everything as what we want them to be..."

We think that if we can "make" other people to be agree with us, to like us and love us, then we will be happy. If some people who we want them to like us, but they don't, we will try to "make" them to like us, or else we are not satisfied. There is nothing wrong with other people to like us, but it should be coming naturally from their own free will, not because we want them to like us, and we'll try to "make" them to like us...

We think that if we don't want to be the loser (the weak one), we have to be the winner (the strong one). We think that we will be free from being "controlled", if we can control "things" to be the way that we like them to be. We want to fight against the law of nature, to stop impermanence. We think that if we don't want to be "bullied" by somebody, we have to "bully" that somebody. But this is incorrect thinking that brings us more tensions, frustration, disappointment, depression, guilt, fear and worry.

Some people tried many ways to fight against the law of nature (impermanence). They wanted to avoid the "suffering" of having a conditional and limited life existence with the function of a mortal physical body that is conditioned by growth, changes, pain, discomforts, injuries, old age, decay, sickness and death... They tried to retain youth, strength and health, and if possible to become "disease-less", "non-decay", and "deathless"...

Even some yogis also tried to "make" this limited adjunct (the mortal physical body that depends on elements and energy to be exist) to become a super human being that can go against the law of nature, to stop aging, to prevent decaying and death...

The result is, we'll get so frustrated and disappointed, because the more we try to control "things" to be the way that we want them to be, and yet "things" are seem to be out of our control... It's because we can't control "things" to be the way that we want them to be. Even enlightened being like Buddha, also didn't want to control anything. If he wanted, or if he could, he would have removed everyone's unhappiness and diseases, and made every beings be enlightened and there would be no more ignorance in everyone, and there would be no more unhappiness and suffering to be existing in the world.

In yoga and meditation, we wanted to attain spiritual enlightenment in order to be free from all the conditions that derived from having a life existence (a physical body being conditioned by birth and death, or impermanent changes). This actually means, "To attain Samadhi (the complete annihilation of the mind, the intellect and the ego) through deep meditation in order to transcend the restless wheel of birth and death, and not coming into life existence again of having another impure body with the mind being "occupying" by ignorance and egoism, which is the cause of all suffering. And this "freedom" is nothing to do with challenging the physical body to go beyond its limitations and to become a super human being that can fly, or float, or having psychic power, or can be forever youthful and beautiful, doesn't get old and decay...

All the practices are there for us to be prepared (purifying the mind) to meditate and to enter Samadhi (The void of ignorance, impurities, qualities, dualities, names and forms. Synonymous with the annihilation of the modification of the mind, the intellect and the ego). But some yogis had attached so much toward this physical body and this life existence, and tried to challenge their physical body to go beyond its limitations and conditions, by doing lots of "yoga practices" to try to make the physical body immortal, to go against the law of nature, to become the strongest, the most flexible super human being, and to attain psychic power to manipulate other people to be in their control...

But how is the world going to be like, if everyone practice yoga and meditation, and becomes physically immortal and have psychic power to have all our wishes (whether good or bad) to be materialized?

It will be a complete disaster... We'll have to be very careful of all our thoughts, because every single thought will be materialized (especially coming from an impure mind). It'll be so exhausting and what a huge responsibility...

There are also some people who don't want to fight, or to evolve, or to make any effort to transcend "suffering" or "birth and death". They prefer to indulge in pleasurable sensual enjoyments as much as they can while still living in this world... They don't mind if the world ends now or will end later...

While some other people chose to be depressed and unhappy about everything and have no will power to try to evolve or to transcend "suffering" or "unhappiness"...

There is nothing wrong at all with people who want to transcend "suffering", or people who just want to enjoy life as much as possible, or people who just want to be depressed and unhappy and do nothing about it...

Everyone has the freedom and choice to do what we want to do with our life, our body and mind, our life existence... At least this is one of the things that we think that we are capable to be in control, to make decision, to decide what we want to do and what we want to "be"...

But why do we want to control things? Why do we want to "be" something?

It requires so much effort to try to control "things" and to "be" something... But it doesn't require any effort at all to let go and not to control anything, nor to "be" something.

We ourselves are so unhappy being controlled by other people or being conditioned by "things", but why didn't we think that the people and "things" that we want them to be in our control, will reject to be controlled and be conditioned as well?

We think that if we want to get rid of unhappiness, we need to have happiness. We also think that to have happiness or to be happy means, "things" should be the way that we like them to be, or else we will not be happy or there won't be happiness...

That's why we (the ego) are very unhappy when "things" don't turn out the way as what we like them to be... And thus, we started to think of any ways to "make" all our wishes come true including try to practice psychic power or black magic to control "things" to be what we want them to be... For example, when our lover doesn't love us anymore, but we couldn't accept that the people that used to love us have stopped loving us and are going to leave us, and we'll get so unhappy and will try some "hypnotism" or "black magic" to "make" our lover to "like" and "love" us again by "external force"...

What's the meaning when we want to "possess" somebody who doesn't want to love us, by using hypnotism or black magic to "force" or "make" them "love" us, not out of their own free will, and to "keep" them in our life, doesn't want them to leave us or doesn't want them to love somebody else (we'll get so jealous and angry if somebody who we want them to love us but they don't love us and they love somebody else instead)? It's such an ignorant and crazy idea...

This is one of the plays of the ignorant selfish egoistic mind... And if there is identification with this ignorant selfish egoistic mind (action and reaction being performed under the control and influence of ignorance and egoism), we have no idea how ignorant we can be when "things" are not what we like them to be, and when we want "things" to be the way that we want them to be...

Even somebody who is very smart and intelligent, and well-educated, will still be over-powered by this selfish egoistic mind, being the slave of the mind that is full of lustful desires and cravings, and will do things that are so ignorant and selfish in order to please this selfish ego, to get what it wants, to get rid of what it doesn't want, to make the ego feels superior, satisfy, to be in power, to be in control, to feel strong, good and happy...

We want to be free to go wherever we wanted to go, to do whatever we wanted to do, to say whatever we wanted to say, and etc... We don't like to be controlled by other people or be controlled by "rules and regulations"... If we ourselves don't want to be controlled by other people of how we should think and feel, how we should live our life, how we should behave, to think, to feel, to express, to walk, to sit, to stand, to talk, to eat, to play, to sleep and etc, then how does other people would feel when we try to control or to change them to be the way that we like them to be?

We think that we are the "good" people that are the one who is contributing to the world, and all other people who are "bad" are the one who is destroying the world...

And we think we have the right to be what we think we should be (to be "good") and other people have no right to be what they want to be (to be "bad")... And we want to change these "bad" people to be as "good" as we are... We think we are the "heroes" that are saving the world from getting worst...

Well, at least we tried to be good and do good. That's nothing wrong with that. But the problem is that we wanted to "change" or to "control" other people who are not the same as us to "be" like us... We think that we are right and they are wrong... But how true is that?

We think that if there is no more "bad" and "evil" people in the world by killing them or locking them in jails or "reprogramming" their behaviors, and there will be no more suffering and unhappiness in the world and this will make the world to be peaceful and happy... But how true is that?

The world will still be the same "dissatisfying and imperfect" place for us even when there are no more "bad and evil" people out there, because we (the ignorant egoistic impure minds) have incorrect thinking even though we try to be good and do good... Ignorance and selfishness are still there in our mind... Anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, agitation, depression, disappointment, dissatisfaction, fear, worry, craving, aversion, attachment are still there in our mind...

It is the mind not at peace, it's not the world being unpeaceful...

We are not peaceful, and we try to make the world peaceful, but we'll be so disappointed because we can't attain peacefulness by making the world "peaceful", because it is our mind not peaceful, not contented and not free...

Wherever we go, we bring along this discontented, selfish, unpeaceful, disturbed, confused, impure mind with us. And we will be unpeaceful being anywhere even at a place where there is not any external disturbance... We (the mind) will be complaining that it is too quiet, too calm, too bored, and we need to have some happenings, excitement, interactions or debates...

The point is, we don't have to control "things" at all...

"Things" never have the intention to control anything. "Things" didn't want to control us at all...

It is us who attached to "things" and hence, be controlled by "things" that are merely being what they are, being selfless and impermanent...

Nature or God doesn't even bother to control anything... Or else it will be so exhausting, isn't it? There is no rest day at all, every moment have to be governing everybody's "business", or else many unwanted "accidents" will be happening everywhere at the same time...

If nature or God is controlling everything, then maybe one day, nature or God, is so tired of governing the universe and to control everything as what they should be, and wants to take a holiday, and appoints one of us, the "super human being" who is the mightiest, smartest and possibly immortal in the world, to be in charge of governing and controlling the entire universe, what will that be like?

It will be a disaster!

We thought it will be so great if we are being given the duty and power to rule the world to be the way that we want it to be... But with an impure ceaseless thinking egoistic mind, we can't even make a small decision without any selfishness, doubts, guilt, fear and worry, not to say to control the world to be what we want it to be...

Then we will start to think that maybe it is not a good idea at all to be in charge and be able to control everything to be the way that we want them to be...

We think that if the human beings can go against the law of nature and impermanence, and become perfectly the way that we desire in life existence, that there will be no decay, no growth, no old age, no sickness, no unpleasant experiences, no pain, no hunger, no thirst, no war, no killings, no unwanted natural disasters, no accidents, no injuries, and no death, and everyone will be living in peace and harmony... But it's not.

Imagine if everyone is immortal and keeps multiplying in population, what will happen to this world?

This universe needs the law of impermanence to function smoothly... Old hair need to go, in order for new hair to come out... Finger nails can keep growing if we don't cut them, but they will become very troublesome if we let them continue to grow longer and longer... Old cells dying and disappearing, and new cells being born and growing...

We think that if we have the power to control or to change the world to be the way that we think it should be, and if we can eliminate (by killing or jailing) all the evil minded and bad behavior people in the world, and the world will be in peace and everyone will be happy and peaceful... But it's not.

Imagine if we are the one who is controlling our heart beats and breathing all the time since we were born into this world, we'll be so exhausted and we have to be awake every moment, or else the heart stops beating and the lungs stop breathing...

The world is not "unpeaceful"... It is in our own mind, that we are not at peace...

The world is not "suffering"... It is in our own mind, that we are suffering...

We don't like to be conditioned by the law of nature, of course the nature will not "like" to be conditioned or to be "reconditioned" by us (which we human beings did try to reconditioning everything if possible)...

We think that we are so smart and intelligent to be smarter than the law of nature or what many people believe as "God", and interfere with the law of nature and impermanence, but we actually had created great disturbance and disharmony in the universal natural energy fields. The world is getting "sicker" when the human beings had invented so many high-tech conveniences for our worldly living conveniences and life enjoyment that come along with lots of side effects damaging the Eco system of the world...

We thought the world is not in "good form", and we are being so compassionate, we wanted to heal the world to prevent it from getting "worst", and we invented lots of "medicines" or "methods" trying to make the world a better place, but instead the world is getting more "sick", because we are actually interfering with its natural cycle of self-healing process and the law of nature...

Take a look at our own physical body. It has its own natural healing process, if we allow it to be as "natural" as it is... But we don't. We want to interfere with its natural healing process and natural aging process, and try to put in many external artificial "things" into it, with the intention to make it healthier, stronger, younger, better looking, and "age-less" if possible...

Sometimes the physical body feels upset, in pain, having cramps, soreness, fever, cold, coughing, sneezing, vomiting and diarrhea, we thought that our body is "sick" ("somebody" told us that we are sick) and we need to feed it with some "medicine" to cure the sickness. But actually all these symptoms are its own natural healing process to combat diseases. And we purposely fighting with this natural healing process of the body by feeding it with "medicine" that "kills" this natural healing process, and we still think that we are so "smart" and are so kind to take care of the body...

We don't have to control anything, but to let everything to be the way that they naturally should be like... And allow ourselves to be the way that we naturally should be like...

Just be what we are at the present moment now as it is, and not trying to "become" someone or something that we are not at this present moment now. And "this", what we are now, it is also impermanent and is constantly changing, and allow that impermanence and changes to happen naturally...

No fear of old age, decay, sickness or death...

When this body needs to "go", we'll be grateful and let it go in peace...

The moment that we let go of trying to control "things" to be the way that we want them to be (even when we have the good intention of wanting everything to be good), we are free!

It's because even "good" things are also impermanent, and will be gone... We cannot attach to "good" things, or else we will be unhappy, unpeaceful and disappointed by our own attachment towards "good" things, craving for the "good" things, clinging onto the "good" things...

The nature will take care of everything in its own way, performing their duties without attachment, intention, judgment, or expectation... That's why nature is the mother or the source of everything in the universe...

It is the ego that wants to have the power to control "things" to be what it likes them to be... But our true nature doesn't need to control anything...

The mind is the projector of the world, and the destroyer of the world. When there is no mind, there is no world...

An impure world was born out of an impure mind.

A suffering world was born out of a suffering mind.

A peaceful world was born out of a peaceful mind.

Have control of our own mind by not being controlled by it, and persistently purifying and quieting our own mind, eradicate the ego, eliminate the veil of ignorance, and annihilate the modification of the mind, is the real freedom. It is not by trying to control "things" or to change the world to be the way that we want them to be...

Tame this mind, and the "world" will be tamed...

This is what the enlightened saints and sages had been trying to teach us...

Om shanti.