The existing problem in the developed countries is a great reflection for the other countries that aspire to become like them

Just as most people would look 'up' to some other 'more successful' people, and aspire to become like them, similarly most 'undeveloped' or 'under developed' countries will look 'up' to some other 'more advanced or developed' countries, and aspire to become like them.

No doubt that in the beginning stage of such 'advanced and higher' development in the most developed countries in the world, there is certain extend of 'prosperity' where certain people who study hard and work hard can achieve certain living income that can support an easier and more comfortable life condition with some additional pleasurable enjoyment, however, after certain years of 'prosperity', 'convenience', 'comfort' and 'enjoyment' that derived from and give rise to different kinds of 'exploitation' and 'corruption', all kinds of 'problems' starting to show up in the 'most advanced and developed' countries in the world, especially now in this time being, and it will continuously becoming more problematic to all and everyone living on earth that doesn't belong to anyone, it's very obvious that all these 'most advanced and developed' countries are all having certain similar 'problems' due to the imperfect system created by those who are under the influence of ignorance and egoism empowered by limitless egoistic desire, vision, aspiration and ambition.

Many young people in the less developed countries are being empowered and highly motivated to look up at the most advanced and developed countries in the world, to transform their countries to also become like one of these 'highly advanced and developed' countries, under the similar system and approach.

They should take a deep reflection towards all the existing 'problems' in all these 'highly advanced and developed' countries in the world, where all kinds of discrimination, exploitation, corruption, oppression, desperation, greed, hatred, unrest and disharmony are rising and increasing, and see if they still want to 'develop' their country under the similar 'system' that will eventually hurt all and everyone after enjoying certain years of 'prosperity' of easier life condition, comfort, convenience and pleasurable enjoyment for certain people, while be considerate to be making certain adjustment or taking some other different approach in order to 'develop' their country 'effectively'.

Similarly, people can reflect upon the existing 'problems' in those countries that are run by particular 'system' that is under the influence of particular 'cultural', 'spiritual', 'religious', 'political', 'national', 'commercial' or 'social class' ideas, thinking, belief, values and practice, that give rise to all kinds of separateness, discrimination, oppression, hatred, violence, unrest, disharmony, greedy vision and ambition, fear, exploitation and corruption in themselves and into the world.

The history, and what is happening now in the world, is a great reflection for those who have great aspiration and ambition to be developing their country or community to become more 'advanced and developed' with higher prosperity and better living condition for many people in their country.

There is nothing wrong and it's very good for any country to be developed and improved for achieving greater peace and higher quality of existence for all and everyone, unselfishly and indiscriminately.

Certain 'development' will bring more peace and harmony into the world, while certain 'development' will contribute to more unrest and disharmony in the world. Be wise on choosing what type of 'development' and 'approach' towards real prosperity and better living condition that will benefit all and everyone, unselfishly.

Certain good people are trying to 'clean up' the mess or 'reducing' the destructive impact of such 'advanced development' with certain great ideas and practices of so called 'sustainable living', however, it won't change much as all and everyone are still unwittingly 'supporting' such 'advanced development for easier living condition, convenience, comfort and enjoyment' under a faulty 'system' that continuously contribute to further and further destructive impact in the diverse society physically and mentally, and in the surrounding environment under such 'advanced development system'.

It's like exerting energy and effort into cleaning and fixing a cracked dirty pot to enjoy the purest and cleanest food, however, the pot can never be cleaned and fixed as continuous dirt are still pouring in and cracks are still happening to the pot. Eventually the pot will be completely broken, and there's no pot for anyone to hold any purest and cleanest food. The pot is the world or the living environment. The purest and cleanest food is the great ideas and kindness to create all kinds of goodness in the world, and the dirt and cracks in the pot is the destructive impact of a faulty 'system' to be achieving a so called 'advanced development' or 'particular cultural, spiritual, religious, political, national, commercial and social class influenced development' in the world.

A constructive 'system' that is not under the influence of any particular cultural, spiritual, religious, political, national, commercial, or social class ideas, thinking, belief, values and practice, that is void of selfishness, greed, possessiveness, discrimination, oppression, separateness, hatred and violence, that respect all kinds of diversities as they are, that promotes peace and harmony in the world of diversity, through the annihilation of ignorance and egoism.

Inquire towards the truth of everything.

Want to learn and practice yoga? (18)

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

Not really.

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

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

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

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

Ignorance and egoism also exists in the world of yoga.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Inquire towards the truth of everything.

Want to learn and practice yoga?

The yoga practice that leads to self-inquiry and self-realization towards the truth of impermanence and selflessness in all the names and forms, enabling the mind to be in peace amidst ceaseless changes of the body and mind, and in all the names and forms that the mind perceives through the senses, and hence, allowing the mind to realize/unveil unconditional peace, transcending all the selfless impermanent changes.

The well-trained mind is free from egoistic attachment, identification, desire of craving and aversion, judgment, comparison and expectation, allowing the perceived reality being what it is, as it is, and respecting all the impermanent changes of the body and mind and whatever the mind perceives or experiences as they are, regardless of whether the changes are desirable or undesirable, pleasant or unpleasant, agreeable or disagreeable.

In order to realize unconditional peace, the mind needs to know what is conditional and unconditional peace, by inquiring or investigating towards the root cause of 'unrest', 'disturbance', 'dissatisfaction', 'unhappiness', 'doubt', 'fear', 'worry', 'insecurity', or what give rise to the state of 'peacelessness'.

The entire process of learning and practicing yoga, is indeed about developing non-attachment, non-identification, non-craving, non-aversion, non-judgment, non-comparison and non-expectation.

Upon the annihilation of all these egoistic defilement within the modification of the mind, unconditional peace that is unconditioned by selfless impermanent changes, is unveiled. This 'peace' is always there, as it is, never increase nor decrease, but it's whether the mind is free or not free from egoism and ignorance.

'Peace as it is' doesn't mean that there's no perception of names and forms, or changes, or activities within the mind, but the perceptive cognitive thinking mind has gone beyond itself, or the modification of the mind, and is aware of the selfless perception of names and forms as well as all the impermanent changes, without being determined by the selfless impermanent modification of the mind itself.

The mind 'experiences' or 'perceives' unrest or the state of peacelessness, is due to there's grasping or attachment arise towards the perceived names and forms as well as the selfless impermanent changes, and there's desire of craving and aversion towards 'controlling' or 'changing' the perceived reality that the mind likes and doesn't like, agrees and disagrees with, and desires and doesn't desire.

Due to ignorance, there's an individual identity of 'I', that doesn't really exists, but sort of existing in the form of a continuous stream of the ceaseless thought currents, which then unwittingly attaching onto and identifying with the different qualities of names and forms that are selfless and impermanent, that also gives rise to boundless desires that are awaiting to be gratified, and hence, gives rise to 'unrest', 'disturbance', 'dissatisfaction', 'unhappiness', 'doubt', 'fear', 'worry', 'insecurity', or what give rise to the state of 'peacelessness' from within the modification of the mind.

It's very simple.

Attachment/identification (passion) => unrest, or conditional peace/happiness/satisfaction/meaningfulness, being determined by the selfless impermanent changes of good and bad qualities, of pleasantness and unpleasantness, by coming in contact with desirable and undesirable conditions/situations/experiences, or by the gratification and non-gratification of desires.

Void of attachment/identification (dispassion) => unconditional peace, void of desires of craving and aversion, undetermined by the selfless impermanent changes of good and bad qualities, of pleasantness and unpleasantness, of desirable and undesirable conditions/situations/experiences.

However, most egoistic minds encounter extreme difficulty towards comprehending and developing dispassion or the void of attachment/identification, because the minds are being conditioned deeply by all kinds of worldly passionate egoistic social/cultural/community/religious/spiritual/political thinking, beliefs, values and practice that are under the influence of survival instinct, which propagate "Promoting attachment and identification in order to gain maximum support/power/control to protect/preserve/expand 'our' belief and values, creating 'our' world that we desire, that we think and believe how it should be. Anything and anyone that are different from 'us' and are not inline with 'our' belief and values, are 'the annoying obstacles' towards achieving 'our' world that we desire."

'Dispassion' is the essential teaching and practice of yoga and Buddhism towards inner peace and world peace, that leads to oneness/non-separateness/accommodation among all diversities that are selfless and impermanent, however, it's being recognized by the worldly passionate egoistic minds as something 'negative', 'wrong', 'bad', 'insanity', 'selfishness', 'harsh', 'cold', 'inappropriate', 'meaningless', 'unfriendly', 'backward', 'regressive', and etc.

And hence, all kinds of different yoga practice, breathing exercises, diet restriction, worldly interactive and connective activity restriction, observations, concentration and meditation practice are there, to help the yoga practitioners to develop dispassion through non-attachment, non-identification, non-craving, non-aversion, non-judgment, non-comparison and non-expectation, to purify, discipline and quiet the modification of the mind, to perform self-inquiry, to transcend the modification of the mind, to annihilate egoism and ignorance from the contaminated thinking/acting/reacting mind, to realize/unveil unconditional peace, which is the uncontaminated state of the mind itself void of egoism and ignorance.

It's just ceaseless names and forms arising and passing away, selflessly, including the modification of the mind.

It's not about influencing, changing or controlling the names and forms in the world to be or not to be in certain way, to gratified the egoistic desires of craving and aversion, to make everything to be the way that 'I' think and believe how it should be, but it's about purifying, disciplining, quieting and transcending the modification of the impure ignorant egoistic mind itself.

Those who cannot comprehend this, or don't want this, but believing in promoting passionate 'connection', 'creation', 'action' and 'power' to either 'influence', 'create' or 'control' the names and forms in the world to be the way that they think how it should be, the way that they like it to be, while 'blaming' and 'hating' others for their own dissatisfaction and unhappiness due to non-gratified boundless passionate desires and aspirations, that's their freedom.

Everyone have their own favorite colour that they like and agree with, and it's okay. There's nothing wrong if everyone keep their favorite colour to themselves, without forcing others to also like and agree with their favorite colour, while respecting others to have their own different favorite colour, without trying to make or control the world to be in their own particular favorite colour only. That is truly 'unity for world peace' by respecting the different diversities. The world will be peaceful as it is.

Or else, everyone try to interfere with/convert/change/control/force one another to also like and agree with their particular favorite colour, while not respecting others to have their own different favorite colour, and very passionately trying to make the world to only have their own particular favorite colour while not allowing any other colour that they don't like and disagree with to be existing in the world, thinking and believing in that is what 'unity for world peace' is about, by oppressing and eliminating diversity, and hence, that is what happening in the world, where wars, discrimination and hatred are still happening even in the era of so called advanced science and technology, destroying peace and harmony, nature, lives, things and properties, in order to create 'my/our' world the way that 'I/we' desire it to be.

Yoga is not about learning and practicing some yoga asana, breathing and cleansing exercises, or chanting, rituals and prayers, or vegetarianism and positive thinking, or concentration and meditation practice under particular style and brand, to attain some momentary physical and mental benefits or spiritual healing. But through different kinds of practice, freeing the mind from ignorance and the by-products of ignorance. It's not even trying to achieve world peace, but by attaining liberation from ignorance, there will be less ignorance and the consequences of ignorance in the world.

Siddhartha Gautama Buddha - The Dhamma will be manipulated and eventually disappeared. Let it be.

Swami Sivananda - Do not hoard disciple. Do not build ashram. Do not mix.

Those who don't know, will perceive these teachings as a form of non-appreciation, selfishness, negativity, backward or regression. That's their freedom of thinking.

Only those who know, can truly understand the greatness of these teachings, which is not about non-appreciation towards 'The Dhamma' or 'The lineage'. It's indeed great compassion towards oneself and others.

Inquire the truth of everything.

Be free.

Mentality of certain people living in the world of corruption, discrimination and oppression

There are minds grew up being conditioned or told by their elders and the surrounding community about, "We need to keep our head down. In many occasions, we need to keep one eye opens one eye closed. As long as it doesn't affect ourselves and our livelihood directly, we shouldn't bother about the others being threatened and hurt by the existence of discrimination and oppression in our society. Even if it affects us indirectly, we must keep our head down and not getting into troubles. Be obedient, do as they told, give them what they want, and keep them happy, then our life will be a lot easier."

This is the mentality of some, or many people living in the world of corruption, discrimination and oppression.

There is fear towards the so called 'authority', where it shouldn't be. Many minds are being conditioned since very young age to be 'very fearful' towards this and that, to be obedient, and one must believe that 'this' is the truth, instead of learning to be open to inquire the truth of everything.

"The authority" is 'supposed' to be a leader, or a team of 'public servants' that supports or serves the community non-discriminatively, that empowers and supports the enhancement of the overall well-being and prosperity of everyone in the society, for personal, community and environmental growth.

An "authority" that doesn't serve or support all and everyone without discrimination, that aren't looking after and supporting the welfare of everyone equally, but instead, only looking after the welfare of themselves and/or those in their own skin, while enforcing 'force', 'fear', 'threat', 'discrimination' and 'oppression' onto the others that are different from them and disagree with them, that are being disagreeable and dislikable to them due to their particular ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, social class, financial status, educational status, culture, belief, values, practice, way of thinking, way of life, food choices, origins, or nationality, is not really an "authority". It's just a very sick mind, or an organization run by a group of 'mentally ill corrupted minds suffering from intense ignorance and egoism, that are prideful and yet, fear of losing power and control, or profit and wealth.'

Unfortunately, the mentality of "As long as it doesn't affect me personally and my livelihood, I still can enjoy my little 'goodies bag' of some limited rights and freedom given by the 'authority' because I am obedient, in which will be taken away from me if I am being disobedient, which I won't, I don't need to bother about the others being 'hurt' by the corruption, discrimination and oppression around me," would only empower such corruption.

Such like, "I'm not any of the LGBT community, I don't need to bother about the authority sanctions discrimination and oppression towards the LGBT community. Even if they are someone that I know personally. That's their problem, not my problem." or "I am privileged to be given certain rights, I am enjoying my little life. I shall not bother about the others whether they have rights and a life, or not." or "I am a man. I enjoy my privilege of being a man. I don't need to bother about women are being discriminated and oppressed by the authority in my community, even if I personally don't want to discriminate or oppress women for anything."

Needn't have any hopes about seeing a 'better' world that has less ignorance, egoism, selfishness, greed, corruption and discrimination, as none can remove the ignorance of others, but just do one's best of what is possible within one's ability, sharing the path of wisdom and compassion, in peace.