Decay and death don't discriminate anyone of any qualities

Regardless of who and what and where everyone think they are

Regardless of all kinds of different qualities and experiences that everyone have or don't have

What kind of condition and situation in the world

Pleasant or unpleasant

Desirable or undesirable

Agreeable or disagreeable

For the mind, the body, the senses

What the minds think and don't think

What the minds believe and don't believe

What the minds appreciate and don't appreciate

What the minds do and don't do

What the minds achieve and don't achieve

What the minds feel and don't feel

Wise or ignorant

Peaceful or peaceless

Healthy or unhealthy

Fit or unfit

Easiness or difficulty

No matter how successful, powerful and prideful one can be

No matter how advance is science and technology

There is one same inevitable truth in all and everyone and everything

Decay and death don't discriminate anyone of any qualities

The selfless impermanent changes under the influence of the law of nature

However

Above all that

'I' less

Who is there to feel or don't feel successful, prideful and powerful?

Who is there enjoying and suffering?

Who is there coming and going?

Who is there changing?

Who is there decaying and dying?

Purifying, calming and quieting the restless mind efficiently

All the different forms of external yoga practice must be accompanied by the internal yoga practice of annihilating egoism of attachment, identification, craving, aversion, judgment, comparison and expectation, supported by the internal mental strength, flexibility and stamina of patience, perseverance, determination, tolerance, forbearance, acceptance, adjustment, adaptation and accommodation, as well as cultivating the essential tools for self-inquiry and self-realization, such as awareness, dispassion, desireless, renunciation, self-discipline, self-reliance, seclusion, solitude, care-free, fearlessness and equanimity, to be efficiently purifying, calming and quieting the impure egoistic restless mind, to prepare the mind for spontaneous meditation into Silence (complete annihilation of the mind/birthlessness and deathlessness/attributelessness, namelessness and formlessness/oneness or non-separateness).

Even if one's physical body is unable to perform any external yoga practice, it doesn't stop the mind from performing internal yoga practice to annihilate egoism, impurities and restlessness, and be free.

Without the internal yoga practice of annihilating egoism and impurities which is nothing to do with the impermanent and selfless physical and mental condition, ability and limitation, the mind will always be disturbed by the mind perception of names and forms of all kinds of pleasant and unpleasant, desirable and undesirable, agreeable and disagreeable life experiences, where there's clinging and craving towards pleasant/desirable/agreeable experiences and aversion towards unpleasant/undesirable/disagreeable experiences, even after many years and huge amount of external yoga practice that one has been performing or many years of teaching yoga and meditation practice to many other people, and getting all the momentary effects and benefits from the regular external form of yoga practice.

The mind might be rendered calm and quiet momentarily during and after all those external yoga and meditation practice, but it doesn't last long, as very soon, the mind would unwittingly slip back into restlessness due to the stubborn egoistic mind habits of chasing after the objects of the senses, worldly enjoyments and stimulation, passionate desires of worldly and/or spiritual aspirations and ambitions, worldly social interactions and activities, and the ceaseless impurities generated through countless actions and reactions towards the mind perceptions of names and forms due to egoism of attachment, identification, craving, aversion, judgment, comparison and expectation, where the mind is restless most of the time, even if the mind can attain certain degrees of relief from restlessness for a short period of time during deep sleep state, or during and after the different forms of external yoga practice.

By freeing the mind from egoism would allow the mind to be undetermined or undisturbed by the mind perception of names and forms, of quality and duality, or the good and bad/positive and negative/pleasant and unpleasant/desirable and undesirable life experiences, that allow the mind to be free from impurities and restlessness thoroughly.

And hence, the importance of the practice of silence for those who truly want to conquer the restless modification of the mind, to attain Silence.

After some time of practicing some kind of yoga and meditation practice regularly, one needs to perform self-introspection, "Is the mind still being determined or affected by the impermanent and selfless physical and mental condition, ability and limitation, as well as the worldly affairs, relationship, friendship, social activities and interactions, and worldly and/or spiritual achievements and acknowledgements to feel good, confident and meaningful, or not?" and "Is the mind still being determined by duality of good and bad/positive and negative/right and wrong/meaningfulness and meaninglessness/happiness and unhappiness, or all the mind perceptions of different qualities of names and forms, to feel good, positive, rightful, joyful and meaningful, or not?" or "Is the mind still being disturbed by what the mind thinks and believes as bad, wrong, negative, unhappiness and hurtful?" If the answer is yes, it means the mind is still not free, even if one has been performing yoga practice for a long time, or possessing many 'yoga certifications', and believing in 'goodness', 'righteousness' and 'positiveness'.

It's everyone's freedom for what they want and don't want to practice.

Worldly identifications

One of the great obstacles or challenges for the yoga enthusiasts to be free from egoism is the intense attachment towards worldly identifications with some qualities of names and forms to be existing as 'I'.

It's 'unthinkable' for the egoistic minds to be 'functioning' or 'aware of the mind perception of a worldly life of names and forms' without any identifications with some qualities of names and forms to be acknowledged by oneself and others as 'This is I'.

There's great fear towards losing the sense of the existence of 'I', or 'selflessness/'I'-lessness', or being unable to be acknowledged by oneself and others as "I am this and that", if without any of the identifications that the egoistic thinking mind would like to acknowledge itself and be acknowledged by others that "I exist as an (unique/special/distinctive/meaningful) individual being with such and such qualities of names and forms."

Similarly, most minds have great fear towards letting go all kinds of superstitious thinking, beliefs, values and practices that were being ingrained into the minds from very young age by their elders, parents, relatives, friends, school teachers, religious teachers, the community and the society. Very few minds would question the truth of all those thinking, beliefs, values and practices, to inquire the truth of everything that was told or informed by everyone, and would just blind-believing, blind-following, blind-practicing and blind-passing on all these thinking, beliefs, values and practices. As most people would 'label' themselves or be 'labeled' by others as 'bad person' or 'traitor' towards one's root and ancestor's cultural background and family values, if they don't embrace or follow or pass down those thinking, beliefs, values and practices.

For many people, this is the 'normal', 'good', 'productive', 'positive', 'healthy', 'successful', 'meaningful' and 'rightful' way of life or living.

Not only that there was a 'basic identity upon birth' that relates to a 'given name', a 'gender', a 'family', an 'ethnicity', a 'birth place', a 'nationality' and a 'security ID number', but everyone was growing up being conditioned by the society to identify oneself with a 'sexual orientation', a 'personality', a 'physical appearance', a 'self-image', a 'body image', a 'physical condition', a 'mental state', a 'religion', a 'culture', a 'lifestyle', a 'trend', and etc. Most minds are being 'encouraged' by the society to be constantly 'developing' and 'possessing' further more other qualities of names and forms to empower or strengthen that 'self-identity', that would allow the minds to feel proud, confident and meaningful towards the existence of 'I' under such identifications. Such like, "I am a 'good', 'strong', 'healthy', 'fit', 'beautiful', 'attractive', 'stylish', 'successful', 'intelligent', 'knowledgeable', 'positive', 'multi tasking', 'talented', 'well-informed', 'well-behaved', 'inspirational', 'generous' and 'kind loving' human being on top of all the identifications with a particular belief, religion, spirituality, culture, caste, sect, educational level, social status, community group, political views, profession, interests, qualifications, certifications, achievements, contributions, possessions, relationships, connections, and so on.

There are some common sayings such as -
"Be good, do good, and life will be all good and you will be happy."
"Be nice and friendly to other people, and other people will be nice and friendly to you."
That is not necessary true.

But everyone has been circulating that kind of sayings especially from the elders to the youngsters, or from the yoga teachers to the yoga students. Many people experiencing disappointment, depression and meaninglessness because they have such expectation towards life, where everyone and everything has to be in certain ways based on those sayings.

Many times, life is not necessarily all good and people are not happy even after they are being good and they have done many good. And it's okay.

People don't have to be happy all the time. Just be good and do good, and allow the fruit of actions to be what it is, not necessarily has to be the way that we would like it to be.

Sometimes, people are not being grateful or appreciative towards our kindness and friendliness, and are not being nice or friendly to us when we are being nice and friendly to them. And it's okay.

People don't have to be grateful and appreciative, and be nice and friendly to others, if they don't want to. Just be nice and friendly to others, without the expectation that other people should be grateful and appreciative, and be nice and friendly to us in return.

The most practical way in the yoga practice to eliminate egoism from the mind is via renunciation of what most minds being conditioned to think and believe as the 'normal' and 'meaningful' way of life. Moving the mind away from the egoistic worldly social cultural thinking and beliefs, ideas, relationships, connections, interactions and activities, and letting go novels, news and magazines reading, radio listening, movies watching and theater visiting. Be determined to observe seclusion and solitude for at least five or six years, cutting off all kinds of worldly social cultural inputs, ideas, connections, activities and interactions, to allow the mind to be free from being conditioned by worldly thinking and beliefs that are all about empowering worldly attachment and identification. Only then the mind can see the truth of names and forms as it is.

Once the mind is free from being conditioned by worldly egoistic thinking and beliefs, it is no longer being determined by any of the worldly identifications with qualities of names and forms to be existing as 'I'. There's no need to feel proud, confident or meaningful towards "I am somebody endowed with this and that prideful, superior and meaningful qualities."

There's no 'I' being there that needs to be empowered, be acknowledged, be motivated, be inspired, be loved, be proud, be confident and be meaningful. There's no 'I' being there to be strong, be weak, be happy, be unhappy, be positive, be negative, be good, be bad, be hurt, be healed, be pleased, be displeased, be praised, be insulted, be selfish, be unselfish, be unfree or be free.

While the entire world emphasize on the empowerment of a strong self-identity nurtured with the qualities of names and forms of particular social/cultural/ethnicity/nationality ideas/values/practices, yoga practice is mainly to free the mind from all these identifications with any qualities of names and forms.

Even the idea of "I am a yoga practitioner practicing yoga of annihilating ignorance, egoism, impurities and restlessness" and the desire of "I want to practice yoga to be free from ignorance and suffering" vanished from the minds that know thyself.

Be free from all kinds of craving and clinging

Though this is the very basic teaching and practice of yoga, many people are not free from certain forms of physical, mental and emotional craving and clinging, both gross (aware) and subtle (unaware). It's a practice that seems to be challenging or struggling for many yoga practitioners, including 'yoga teachers', mostly those who are passionate towards worldly life existence of an individual being with a personal identity and most probably at least one or a few group/community identity under the influence of worldly cultural and social ideas, activities, thinking and beliefs.

The minds that are not free from attachment and identification with some kind of impermanent qualities of names and forms as 'I', are not free from being determined by the presence/possession and absence/non-possession of certain qualities of names and forms to feel good, happy, confident and meaningful, or not.

There's craving towards certain qualities of names and forms that the impure mind perceives or recognizes as 'good', 'positive', 'well-deserving', 'acknowledgement', 'payback to one's effort', 'higher standard', 'prideful', 'successful', 'lovable', 'joyful' and 'meaningful', and there's aversion towards certain qualities of names and forms that the impure mind perceives or recognizes as 'bad', 'negative', 'undeserving', 'non-acknowledgement', 'non-payback to one's effort', 'lower standard', 'shameful', 'failure', 'unlovable', 'sorrowful' and 'meaningless'.

This is how most worldly minds think, believe, behave, live life, interact with one another, act and react, as most people/human beings grew up being taught/influenced by their parents, teachers, society and medias to develop a strong sense of 'self-identity' and 'group identity' attaching onto certain qualities of names and forms to be who they are, or who 'I' am. The entire life existence is very much based on upholding, or attaining, or possessing, or protecting, or passing down certain 'values' to feel happy, confident and meaningful, to live a proud, purposeful and meaningful life. Such as there's nothing wrong when most minds would feel, think and believe that "It's so good to practice yoga and it's so meaningful to teach yoga to other people." but the minds are not free.

It's not easy for the minds to just 'let go' or 'abandon' all these identities of certain qualities that 'generate' the sense of 'existence' or more so the sense of 'meaningful existence', which is truly unnecessary to the liberated minds, but is upmost essential to the worldly impure minds.

There is the need of 'aspiration', 'intention', 'motivation', 'inspiration', 'reward', 'encouragement', 'praise and compliment', 'recognition', 'acknowledgement', 'positive feedback', 'positive interaction', 'positive guidance', and etc, for performing actions (of doing something that the mind perceives as 'good') or inactions (of not doing something that the mind perceives as 'not good').

As long as the mind is not free from this 'worldly habitual thinking pattern' under the influence of worldly thinking and belief where most people think and believe that there is a need of the existence of 'positive beings' to uplift/inspire 'the other not so positive beings' to 'create' a 'positive world', or there is a need of 'spiritual beings with spiritual healing power' or 'magic pills' to 'heal' all the 'hurts' or 'take away' all the painful sorrow and suffering of mankind, this mind will always be determined by the qualities of names and forms that are impermanent and selfless, and be disturbed by the absence and presence of what the worldly minds perceive as 'good and bad', 'right and wrong', 'positive and negative', 'appropriateness and inappropriateness', 'should and shouldn't', 'auspiciousness and inauspiciousness' and 'meaningfulness and meaninglessness'.

The mind expects itself and everything that it identifies as 'I', such as 'my body', 'my appearance', 'my ability', 'my mind', 'my belief', 'my feelings', 'my knowledge', 'my happiness', 'my confidence', 'my life', or 'my existence' to be in certain ways that the mind desires, likes and agrees with, of the qualities that it craves to achieve, or possess, or identify with. The mind also expects others and everything that it relates to 'I', such as 'my family', 'my relationship', 'my friends', 'my country', 'my community', 'my group', 'my world', 'my fellow human beings', and so on, to be in certain ways that the mind desires, likes and agrees with. When things are not the way that the mind expects it to be, the mind feels disturbed, dissatisfied, disappointed, and either agitated or depressed.

Those who truly 'help' other beings to be free from ignorance the cause of suffering, they 'guide' the minds to become their own teacher, to be aware of what is going on in the mind, to inquire the truth of everything, and to attain self-realization, to be free from ignorance and the by-products of ignorance - egoism and impurities empowered by worldly ideas, activities, thinking and beliefs.

Contemplate on "Positive thinking is a just a practice to counter negative thinking, but it's not the goal of the yoga practice." and "There's nothing wrong with attaining good health and happy mind, but it's not the goal of the yoga practice." and go beyond positive thinking, good health and happy mind.

Realize this, "It's okay when the mind is 'negative or unhappy' in the present moment, as even this state of 'negativity or unhappiness' is impermanent and will change. Without any intention or expectation to chase away the state of 'negativity or unhappiness' or to develop the state of 'positivity and happiness', without craving towards 'positivity/happiness' or aversion towards 'negativity/unhappiness', allowing the mind to be what it is, allow it to change as it is. The mind is just what it is. It is impermanent. It's neither a positive nor negative mind, neither a happy nor unhappy mind. And it's not 'I'."

Love and be kind to the mind as it is, even when it is negative or unhappy. This doesn't mean that pampering the mind by gratifying all its desires, but be determined to free the mind from ignorance, impurities, egoism and suffering.

As long as there is an identity in the mind generates clinging/craving towards 'positivity' and aversion towards 'negativity', to change the mind to be the way that 'I' want it to be, the way that 'I' think it should be, the mind is not free, even though there's nothing wrong with that. Instead of working on transforming a 'negative mind' into a 'positive mind', work on 'being aware of what is going on in the mind, without attachment of craving and aversion towards all the 'positive and negative', 'good and bad', or 'happy and unhappy' thought activities as 'I'. The mind doesn't need to be 'positive', or 'good', or 'happy' when it is free from ignorance.

Practice yoga, without attachment, identification, craving, aversion and expectation, allowing the effects or the fruit of the practice to be there as it is. There's no "I am doing the yoga practice and I will be receiving the effects or the fruit of the yoga practice." The one who is free, or not free from ignorance, disturbs and suffering, it's the mind. There's no 'I' expects the mind will be free. The mind will be free as it is, when the idea of 'I' disappears.

Be free.

Self-transformation

Self-transformation in the world is about changing the 'qualities' of the body and mind (what the mind identifies as 'I') from what the worldly thinking and belief categorize as bad, wrong and negative into what the worldly thinking and belief categorize as good, right and positive, in order to enhance one's self-esteem, self-image, attractiveness, confidence, productivity, knowledge, skill, ability, physical and mental performance, social networking, or success in career, life and relationships, to attain what most people's thinking and belief categorize as 'good', 'easy', 'comfortable', 'enjoyable', 'successful', 'prosperous', 'happy' and 'meaningful' life.

Self-transformation in the teachings of yoga is about reforming the thinking pattern of the mind to free the mind from being conditioned by the worldly egoistic thinking and belief that influences how the mind thinks, acts and reacts towards all the mind perception of names and forms, to free the mind from ignorance, egoism, restlessness and impurities, to be free from suffering that exists due to ignorance. Being free from attachment towards qualities of names and forms and being free from identification with the impermanent selfless existence and function of the body and mind as 'I', realizing selflessness or 'I'-lessness, unlimited by any qualities of names and forms.

If the mind is surrounded by the company of the worldly minded and constantly receiving all kinds of worldly input and influence of worldly ideas, thinking and belief, and being influence by all the ceaseless ever-changing trends in the world to make decisions and live life, then it's very difficult for the mind to practice yoga of the annihilation of ignorance and egoism (even if the mind likes to perform some forms of yoga practice), as the mind will disagree with many of the teachings of yoga that are contradicted with the worldly thinking and belief, and unable to be opened to inquire the truth of something that is unknown to the mind or something that is disagreeable to the mind that is under the influence of the worldly thinking and belief to analyze and judge what is agreeable and disagreeable.

And hence the importance of retreating or moving the mind away from the worldly way of life, behavior, habits, ideas, thinking and belief, to renounce worldly inputs and influences, relationships, interactions and activities, to allow the mind to see things beyond the limited worldly thinking and belief that influences the mind to judge everything, act and react, that empowers ignorance, egoism, impurities and restlessness.

Does the mind still think that 'this' is something 'good', and everyone should do 'this', and 'that' is something 'bad', and everyone shouldn't do 'that'? Does the mind still think that "To live a good and meaningful life, I need to be like this and not like that. Other people also need to be like this and not like that to live a good and meaningful life?" Does the mind still amazed by and admire towards someone or something that the mind perceives as amazing, wonderful and meaningful, that the mind would like to be like that someone and to have/experience that something? Does the mind still want to be able to inspire or amaze other people? If the answer is 'yes', then this mind is not free, even though this mind only wants to perform 'good' actions and doesn't want to perform 'bad' actions, and living everyday life being in certain ways and not being in certain ways, according to what the mind thinks and believes as 'good and bad' or 'meaningfulness and meaninglessness' based on the worldly thinking and belief about what is 'good and bad' or 'meaningfulness and meaninglessness'.

It's everyone's freedom for what they want to do with their life, body and mind, and whether to practice yoga to free the mind from ignorance, or not.

Being peaceful and compassionate doesn't mean that the body and mind don't experience unpleasantness

Whether we feel comfortable or uncomfortable being in a yoga pose or in a particular position, or in a situation in life, it has nothing to do with peace and compassion.

Being peaceful and compassionate doesn't mean that the body and mind don't or won't experience or perceive unpleasantness.

One can be peaceful and compassionate as one is, unconditionally, being undetermined or undisturbed by all the impermanent changes of the condition of the body and the state of the mind, and all the perceptions of pleasant and unpleasant sensations, sights, sounds, smells, tastes and thoughts.

If one can only be peaceful and compassionate when one perceives or experiences pleasant names and forms, and doesn't perceive any unpleasant names and forms, but then one won't be peaceful or compassionate when one perceives unpleasant names and forms, then that is just the momentary state of the ignorant egoistic mind being 'peaceful and kind' or 'peaceless and unkind' being conditioned and determined by the qualities of names and forms, it's not the unconditional peace and compassion that one realizes from being free from ignorance and egoism.

The one who is free, will be peaceful and compassionate as one is under any condition or situation, no matter what is the physical condition or the state of the mind, whether it's pleasant or unpleasant.

Be free.

The sky is just what it is

The sky is just what it is

It's neither blue nor grey

It's neither day nor night

It's neither bright nor dark

It's neither high nor low

It's neither big nor small

It's neither calm nor turbulent

The eyes can only see what they see

The eyes can't see beyond what they can see

What the eyes see are not necessarily the truth of what they are

The mind can only knows what it knows

The mind can't know beyond what it knows

What the mind knows are not necessarily the truth of what they are

And above all

The sky is not even 'the sky'

'I' is not even I

Be free

Joyful and peaceful as it is, unconditionally

There's nothing wrong and it's very common that most minds will feel good, happy, contented and peaceful when the mind experiences something that will make it feels good, happy, contented and peaceful, or when the mind comes in contact with qualities of names and forms that it likes and wants and doesn't come in contact with certain qualities of names and forms that it doesn't like and doesn't want. And the mind won't feel good, happy, contented or peaceful, or it will feel bad, unhappy, discontented and not peaceful when the mind doesn't experience something that will induce good, happy and peaceful feelings in the mind, or when the mind doesn't come in contact with the qualities of names and forms that it likes and wants, and when the mind comes in contact with the qualities of names and forms that it doesn't like and doesn't want.

The mind that is not free from ignorance and egoism will always be conditioned or determined by the presence or absence of certain qualities of names and forms or all the mind perceptions of names and forms through the senses to feel good, happy, contented and peaceful, or not.

The mind that is free from ignorance and egoism will be joyful, contented and peaceful as it is, unconditionally, being uninfluenced and undetermined by all the perceptions or experiences of different qualities of names and forms that are impermanent. There's no fear or grief when this mind is approaching death or when someone who is related or closed to this mind is approaching death. This freedom doesn't come from the momentary effects of drugs or intoxication numbing the mind, but coming from the realization of the truth of life existence of the body and mind. There's no clinging onto any names and forms, including existence and non-existence. Those who are not free from ignorance and egoism couldn't comprehend this and they will perceive or recognize this as a form of 'coldness' or 'heartlessness' or 'abnormality' or 'inhuman' or 'wrong'. That's their freedom of life and thinking.

If there is thinking or identification of "I am happy and peaceful because ..." or "I am not happy or peaceful because ..." Then know that this mind is not free. It doesn't matter if the reason of being happy and peaceful is 'something is good', or 'everything is good', or 'life is good', or 'health is good', or 'the state of mind is good', or 'relationship is good', or 'children are good', or 'job is good', or 'people are nice', or 'the world is good and peaceful', or 'yoga practice is good', or 'meditation is good', 'the teacher is good', 'the class is good', or 'weather is good', or 'food is good', and so on.

There's nothing wrong with "being grateful and thankful, contented and happy when there is something good", but the mind is still not free yet. When "there is nothing good" or "there is something not good or something bad", but the mind is still peaceful as it is, then this mind is free.

There's no "I am happy and peaceful because ..." or "I am not happy or peaceful because ..." when the mind is free from ignorance and egoism. This egoless/selfless mind itself is unconditional peace. It doesn't need to feel or be peaceful.

The liberated mind being free from ignorance and egoism and suffering is unconditioned or undetermined by any qualities of names and forms to be happy and peaceful, or not, being aware of all the impermanent changes of all the perceptions of names and forms, without attachment, identification, desires of craving and aversion, judgment or expectation, allowing all the names and forms to be there as they are, to be what they are, but all these names and forms have no intention or quality to induce happiness and peacefulness or unhappiness and restlessness, without intention to change or control all the names and forms to be the way that 'I' like it to be, or the way that 'I' think it should be.

It's the ego that wants to feel good, happy, contented and peaceful, and doesn't want to feel bad, unhappy, discontented and not peaceful. It's the ego that has lots of ceaseless desires of craving and aversion waiting to be gratified in order to attain good feelings and the sense of happiness, or to escape bad feelings and the sense of unhappiness. If the desires of craving and aversion are being gratified, the ego feels good, happy, contented and peaceful. If the desires of craving and aversion are not being gratified, the ego feels bad, unhappy, discontented and not peaceful. The mind is free as it is, when the ego is annihilated.

To know the truth or the root cause of suffering or unhappiness is neither complicated nor difficult. But to have the willpower to be able to free the mind from ignorance and egoism seems to be very challenging for many. And it's okay. That's why the yoga practice is here, without judgment or expectation, keep practicing non-attachment, non-identification, non-craving, non-aversion, non-judgment, non-comparison and non-expectation to be free from ignorance and egoism.

Contemplate on this, and be free.

If people don't like or disagree with or don't want this unconditional peace and happiness, but they prefer to be determined by the gratification of desires of craving and aversion through coming in contact with or non-coming in contact with certain qualities of names and forms that they like or dislike and want or don't want to feel good, happy, contented and peaceful, or not, and if people prefer to take drugs or intoxication to get momentary relieving or numbing effect to deal with unhappiness, discontentment, disappointment, hurt, guilt, regret, grief, depression, painful sorrow, meaninglessness, loneliness, fear or suffering, that's their freedom.

Be strong?

One doesn't need to be strong or stay strong.

One just needs to embrace and accept oneself as one is.

Sometimes we think we are strong or strong enough, while sometimes we think we are not strong or not strong enough, and it's okay. We don't have to be strong at all, and we don't have to be able to stay strong all the time.

Sometimes there are things that the body or the mind can do or achieve, while sometimes there are things that the body or the mind can't do or achieve, and it's okay. The body and the mind don't have to be able to do or achieve all and everything all the time.

Most important, there is no attachment or identification with what the egoistic impure mind thinks and perceives about itself and/or others.

Whether the mind thinks 'I' am strong or not strong, and whether the body and the mind are able to do or achieve anything and everything, or not, all these qualities are impermanent, and it's not who we think we are. It's just the ego.

The ego is the one who enjoys and suffers, who wants that and doesn't want this, and who feels satisfy or dissatisfy, happy or unhappy, fulfilled or disappointed, calm or disturbed, love or hate, and who feels hurt, offended, insulted, humiliated, disrespected, annoyed, frustrated, threatened, insecure, oppressed, discriminated, belittled, lonely, meaningless, low self-esteem, unconfident, doubt, guilty, regret, shameful, and so on. It is the one who needs to possess or attach onto certain qualities of names and forms to feel good, proud, confident and meaningful about itself and life. It is the one who would do anything that might hurt the body and the mind and others in order to attain or fulfill or protect all its desires of want and doesn't want, or craving and aversion.

One just do one best within one's ability, making use of the present condition and ability of the body and the mind, to do and achieve what is possible, and let go what is impossible in the present moment, being free from egoism of attachment, identification, craving, aversion, judgment and expectation.

It is the ego that wants to be strong and stay strong. It is the ego that wants the body and the mind to be able to do and achieve all and everything that it desires. It is the ego that wants to believe that everything is possible and nothing is impossible.

Be free from this ego. Be kind to the body and the mind, by embracing and accepting the body and the mind as they are. They don't have to be good all the time. They don't have to be perfect or to be the way that the ego would like them to be. It is okay that sometimes there are things that are possible and sometimes there are things that are impossible. Such like, it is impossible to undo the past, or to control everything to be the way that the ego likes it to be. And it's okay.

It's just the ego that needs to achieve and attach onto some qualities of names and forms that it likes and wants (what it thinks and believes as good, positive, happiness, success and meaningful), and rejecting the qualities of names and forms that it doesn't like and doesn't want (what it thinks and believes as bad, negative, unhappiness, failure and meaningless). Be free from this ego, there's no need to depend on good qualities, good conditions, good abilities, good achievements, good results, good relationships, good life, good reputation, good image, good feelings, positive feedback, support and acknowledgement, to be peaceful, to be happy, to be confident, or to feel meaningful about the worldly life existence, or what we think is 'I'. There is no 'I'.

Be free from this ego, there's no 'I' being strong or not strong. There's no need to be strong. There's no need to be confident. There's no need to feel meaningful. It doesn't matter how is the world and how is life and whatever experiences we go through from birth to death in this life existence, there is peace, right here and now. And this is liberation.

Liberation is not about fighting, changing and eliminating what we think is bad, evil, unjust, inequality and wrong in the world. Whatever we think is bad, evil, unjust, inequality and wrong in the world, is the product/consequence of ignorance and egoism in all beings, including those who think they are good and right, who think they are better than others and deserve better treatments from others. None can fight or change or eliminate ignorance and egoism in other beings, to change or control the world to be the way that we think is all good, evil-less, just, equal and right. Not even Buddha or any Gurus can change or remove ignorance and egoism of others.

Liberation is being free from ignorance and egoism in one's mind. One will be peaceful as one is, which is nothing to do with whether the world and our life experience is all good, evil-less, just, equal and right, or not. It's being undisturbed and undetermined by the products/consequences of other people's ignorance and egoism.

Just observe the breath as it is

Whether you think you were good or not good in the past, it's not important. Let it go.

Whether you think you will be good or not good in the future, it's not important. Let it go.

Whether you think you are good or not good in the present moment, it's not important. Let it go.

All the qualities of names and forms are impermanent, and they are not 'I'.

Just be in the moment, and observe the breath coming in and going out, as it is.

Nothing complicated.

Nothing to do with any spiritual belief, cultural belief, personal belief or religion belief.

Be free.

Selflessness is not 'unselfishness'

Self-inquiry is the core of all kinds of yoga and meditation practice to inquire into the truth of "who am I", or what the mind think and believe is 'myself', and to attain self-realization of knowing who/what is 'I'.

Selflessness is the realization derived from the inquiry of who/what is this 'I'. It's what all and everything are.

'I' is the ignorance of an identification of an individual being whom attached onto certain qualities of names and forms (the physical body, the thinking mind, the knowledge, the thinking and belief, the physical and mental ability and limitation, the action and the result of the action, the achievements, the possessions, the relationships with other beings and objects, the family/ethnicity/cultural/nationality/community/spirituality/educational/political background, the living environment and condition, the lifestyle and all the life experiences, and so on) to be identified as "This is who/what I am". And yet, the existence and the function and all the impermanent changes of the body and the mind is not in the control of 'I', or 'anyone', but all and everything are ceaselessly changing under the nature law of cause and effect, arising and passing away.

Selflessness is the realization of 'I' doesn't exist. There is no 'I' in anything and everything of different names and forms that are subject to impermanence, the law of nature. And hence, there is no 'my' and 'mine'. And this realization leads to no 'separateness', no 'discrimination', no 'clinging', no 'connections', no 'relationships', no 'family', no 'ethnicity', no 'friends', no 'enemies', no 'pride', no 'humiliation', no 'hurts', no 'fear', no 'worry', no 'gain', no 'loss', no 'loneliness', no 'suffering', no 'end of suffering'.

Selflessness is not the opposite of selfishness. Selflessness is not unselfishness.

Selflessness is nothing to do with being unselfish or being free from selfishness.

There is no 'I' existing to be identified as selfish being, or "I am selfish".

There is no 'I' existing to be identified as unselfish being, or "I am not selfish".

Upon the realization of selflessness, there is no selfishness or unselfishness.

There's no "I want/don't want to be selfish".

The one who is being selfish or unselfish is just the mind that hasn't realized selflessness, that is functioning under the influence of ignorance and egoism, that give rise to separateness, discrimination, connection, relationship, superiority, inferiority, selfishness, greed, pride, shame, hurts, unrest, fear, worry, offensiveness, defensiveness, and etc, while acting and reacting under the influence of egoism being determined by all these defilement, either wittingly or unwittingly.

Be free.

Yoga is not about achieving better or highest qualities through the yoga practice

Yoga is not about achieving better or highest qualities through the yoga practice, but it's about going beyond all the impermanent good and bad qualities of names and forms to realize selflessness, attributelessness, namelessness and formlessness.

Even the good or highest qualities that one can achieve in this world of names and forms, including what the mind thinks is the highest performance and benefit that one can achieve from the yoga practice are also impermanent. Such like, one can achieve calmness and relaxation of the mind after a yoga asana and pranayama practice session, and one feels good when the mind is calm and relaxed, but even this calmness and relaxation of the mind is impermanent. If the yoga practitioners generate attachment of clinging and desire of craving onto this impermanent state of the mind deriving from yoga asana and pranayama practice, this yoga practitioner will soon be disappointed and dissatisfied when he/she couldn't repeatedly achieve such effect from the yoga asana and pranayama practice due to unforeseen circumstances. One should make use of the calmness state of the mind attained from the yoga practice to meditate upon the truth, but without clinging or craving onto this calmness state of the mind. Even this will change and pass away. When this calmness state of the mind passes away or is unavailable for some reasons, it doesn't affect/decrease/remove the unconditional peace that one realized from non-attachment and non-identification, and being free from the desire of craving and aversion.

The annihilation of egoism is the core of all kinds of yoga practice with different names and forms. The effects or benefits of both the physical and mental yoga practice are not the goal or the objective of yoga practice.

'Advancing in yoga' is nothing to do with the enhanced physical ability for performing more complex/challenging form of yoga asana practice, or the improvement of the physical health condition, or the achievement of greater ability to perform physical and mental activities, or the enjoyment of a higher quality of living. But the mind has developed a profound realization of the existence and function of the body and mind and the cause of suffering, and the mind has established firmly in dispassion and right discrimination, undetermined by all the impermanent qualities of names and forms.

One's liberation from suffering has nothing to do with the condition of the world or the surrounding environment, or the suffering that exist in all other beings in the world due to ignorance and egoism. One can be peaceful even though many other beings undergo painful suffering. One can be compassionate and show sympathy towards other beings' suffering, but one is undisturbed by it. Those who haven't realized selflessness and compassion, including many yoga practitioners as well as yoga teachers might not understand or agree with this, and might criticize this as 'selfishness' or 'cold-hearted'. Just like there are people, (including those who enjoy doing the yoga practice to get the effects or benefits of the yoga practice) criticize the teachings of Bhagavad Gita because they read the context with a closed mind that is being conditioned and limited by worldly social, cultural, religious and personal thinking and belief, under the influence of ignorance and egoism.

'Good and kind' people might think and believe that as long as there are evilness and bad people existing in the world, none will ever have peace, and everyone should be miserable and suffer for all the bad qualities that exist in the world. People think and believe that all kinds of evilness and bad people must be eliminated from the world because only by then they (the good and kind people) can have peace and be free from suffering while living/existing in this world. This is deep ignorance. The world might appear to be not peaceful, having all kinds of evilness, wrong doings, inhumanity and chaos here and there, but unconditional peace exists in all and everyone disregard the good or bad condition of the world, or the good or bad qualities existing in the world.

Many people are seeking liberation from discrimination, racism, bias, prejudice, violence and hatred in this world of diverse names and forms, and fight for their rights and respect from others for being who they think they are, but a yogi doesn't seek liberation from discrimination, racism, bias, prejudice, violence and hatred in this world of diverse names and forms, but is seeking liberation from ignorance and egoism, the seed of suffering. The yogi also doesn't fight for the rights and respect from others for being 'who I think I am', because there is no 'I'/ego exists in the selfless mind to be identifying as "This is I", "This is my right", or "I deserve respect from others". People might want to change/expect/control the world to be the way that they like it to be and to change/expect/control other people to behave the way that they think how people should behave. The yogi doesn't interested/intend to change the world or discipline other people, but only to purify and discipline one's own mind to be free from ignorance and egoism.

There's no "I am a yogi", "I am a beginner/advance yogi", "I practice yoga", "Yoga is good/not good", "I am good or not good at yoga practice", "I love yoga", "I like/don't like this type of yoga", "Yoga gives me such and such effects or benefits", "I am a yoga teacher", "I want to be a yoga teacher", "I am a good/advance/experienced/qualified/certified yoga teacher", and etc.

Be free.

Let go all the worldly identifications that built on impermanent qualities of names and forms

Let go all the worldly identifications that built on impermanent qualities of names and forms.

Knowledge, nationality, society, community, tribe, gender, sexual orientation, race, skin colour, personality, characteristic, family background, culture, spirituality, religion, education, language, title, relationship, life condition, health condition, fitness level, appearance, feature, shape and size, thinking and belief and practices, physical and mental state, physical and mental abilities and disabilities, physical and mental transition and limitation, creativity and ideas, talents and skills, interests and habits, social interactions and activities, worldly and spiritual achievements, possessions, actions and inactions, and so on.

Inquire the truth of what or who we think is 'I'.

Realize selflessness/egolessness/'I'lessness.

There is no 'I' to be identifying with any qualities of names and forms as 'I'.

It's merely impermanent changes of countless arising and passing away of names and forms, from moment to moment.

Be free. Be peaceful.

The restless mind

Whenever there is perception of different qualities of name and form, there will always be somebody with the thinking mind experiences restlessness, showing disagreement, or dislike, or be offended by certain names and forms.

Unless it is attributeless, nameless and formless, then nobody with the thinking mind can perceive something nameless and formless that is beyond qualities of name and form, and nobody will experience restlessness, showing disagreement, or dislike, or be offended by something that is beyond the mind perception of names and forms.

If somebody will be restless, showing disagreement, dislike and be offended by something that isn't there, then that is still within the mind perception of qualities of name and form. The mind is offended by something that it doesn't know. It's like, "I don't know what it is, but I just disagree with it and I don't like it..."

That's how restless the mind can be.

Go beyond the mind perception of names and forms, realize attributelessness, namelessness and formlessness, and be free from restlessness, agreements and disagreements, likes and dislikes, offensiveness and defensiveness.

Om shanti.

Know our minds...

The mind never showed interest in something that was always there until the moment it sees, or found certain qualities that it likes, or admires, or attracted to, which directly or indirectly existing along with that particular thing, it starts to show great interest in that thing.

Just like in any kind of relationships among people, including friendships. We never showed interest in some people whom we know for a long time, until the moment we start to see, or found certain qualities that we like and interested in, which directly or indirectly existing along with these people, and then we start to show interest in these people.

This indicates that we don't really like or interested in these people as they are, nor interested in these people for being who they were in the past, or who they are in the present moment, but we only like and interested in some qualities that we like, and which drawn our mind's attention and interest.

Look within, and rest in our very own nature of unconditional love and peace. Love all beings as they are, be free from craving, longing, attachment, possessiveness, projection and expectation. We will never feel disappointed and hurt, or be disappointed and hurt by anyone or anything, when we start to understand how the mind works.

Only those minds that are free from ignorance and egoism know how to love others and be loved by others as it is unconditionally, in any relationships. All the others are just loving their own desires for what they like and want, selfishly...

Be happy.

Know the difference between Sattvic and Tamasic...

Know the difference between being Sattvic and being Tamasic.

In Sattvic beings, they perform all the necessary actions, duties and responsibilities, but remain equanimous undisturbed nor determined by dualities, being free from desires of craving and aversion, being unaffected nor influenced by the actions and the fruit of actions.

In Tamasic beings, they think they should be just relaxed and chilled out by not performing any actions, duties and responsibilities, but unable to remain equanimous being disturbed and determined by dualities, being over-powered by desires of craving and aversion, being affected and influenced by the actions and the fruit of actions (including actionless).

And so, check the dominant Guna in our mind, and reflect upon our thinking and behavior. Do not mistaken ourselves being Sattvic but actually we are being Tamasic.

Om shanti.

"Professional profile" of a yoga teacher or a yoga school?

"How long have you been practicing yoga?"

"How long have you been teaching yoga?"

"Where and whom did you learn yoga from?"

"Who is your yoga teacher or Guru?"

"What type of recognitions, certifications and qualifications do you have?"

"What type of yoga do you practice or teach?"

"What is the level of this yoga course or yoga class?"

"What type of certifications I can get from attending these yoga courses or classes?"

"What type of results or benefits I can get from attending this yoga course or yoga class?"

All these are the common questions coming from most people who want to practice yoga or to teach yoga. But yoga is nothing to do with all these names and forms...

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Normally, when people are looking for a yoga school or yoga teacher to learn about yoga, or to do some yoga exercises, most of us will want to know the "professional profile" of the yoga school or the yoga teacher, to know what are the qualifications, certifications, affiliations, past experiences, achievements, types of courses, classes or services of the yoga school or the yoga teacher.

Same as when a yoga school or a yoga teacher wants to "promote" their classes or services, naturally, they want to have a "professional image", and to give a "laudable", "highly recommended", "reliable", "professional", "expertise", "highly experienced", "outstanding", "competent", "recognized", "affiliated", "updated", "distinctive", or "beautiful" type of profile to show to the respective "clientele" or yoga enthusiasts who might be interested to take up yoga courses, yoga classes or yoga exercise classes at this yoga school or with this yoga teacher.

There is nothing wrong with this universal worldly idea and practice in the process of getting a "product" and promoting a "product". Just that, all these "identifications" that identify with certain qualities of names and forms has nothing to do with the practice of yoga and meditation, or the realization of the Truth, or the propagation of Dharma, which is about annihilation of ignorance and egoism, realization of selflessness, fearlessness, oneness, namelessness, formlessness, compassion and wisdom, and transcend suffering, birth and death.

As liberation, or selflessness, or compassion, or realization of the Truth, is undetermined by all these qualities of names and forms that consist of worldly minded business marketing standards, ideas and strategies, qualifications, certifications, affiliations, achievements, past experiences, excellent and extensive services.

All these identifications with qualities of names and forms are irrelevant to what yoga is, or the teachings and practice of yoga, or the realization of yoga, or the beings who learn, practice and realize yoga, or the liberated beings who share the wisdom of yoga with other beings.

Here are some examples of a common profile of most yoga schools and "professional" yoga teachers who provide yoga courses, yoga classes, or yoga exercise classes :-

"Want to teach yoga? Want to be certified as an internationally affiliated and recognized yoga teacher? Come to us, let our professional yoga teachers trainers to train you to be a qualified professional yoga teacher and be certified and recognized internationally"

"Our yoga school is a Yoga Alliance 200 Hour & 500 Hour Registered Yoga School."

"Our yoga school has been established for how long."

"I am a Yoga Alliance 200 Hour & 500 Hour Registered Yoga Teacher."

"I have been practicing and teaching yoga for how many years."

"I have been to such and such yoga schools."

"I had learned and graduated under such and such yoga teachers and gurus."

"I have attained such and such qualifications and certifications recognized and issued by such and such organizations, or alliances, or affiliations."

"I am a qualified and certified yoga teacher, I teach such and such types of yoga classes."

"The type of yoga classes and practice that I teach will give you such and such benefits and results."

"I am an advance yoga practitioner and yoga teacher, I practice and teach advance yoga."

"I am experienced, knowledgeable and well-trained yoga teacher. Come to my yoga class. I teach you yoga. I teach you yoga exercises."

"I have how many years of teaching experiences."

"I have taught yoga classes in such and such (creditable) yoga schools."

"I am a good, happy, healthy, experienced, knowledgeable, fit, strong and flexible yogi and yoga teacher."

And so on...

There is nothing wrong with all these worldly thinking, ideas, qualities and identifications, and most people want or need to see all these qualities to find what they believe is a "good" and "reliable" yoga school or yoga teacher, that will give them what they want after they have paid some fees to be getting something that they are looking for. As well as most yoga schools and yoga teachers also think and believe that they need to have such qualities to convince themselves and the world that they are experienced, qualified, knowledgeable and good enough to give or provide some forms of services, courses or classes to those who pay them some fees for some services or results in return.

But, yoga is nothing to do with all these worldly image or identifications, or worldly ideas of marketing strategies, business exchange of services and achieving results.

All these names and forms have no meanings or values for beings who truly practice yoga and meditation to transcend suffering, egoism, ignorance, names and forms.

Who is being there to identified with all these qualities of names and forms, to acknowledge ourselves and others that "this" is who I am, what I am, what I do, and what I can give you?

Those who had realized selflessness, who have gone beyond the qualities of names and forms, who are free from egoism, and who can guide anybody towards selflessness from their own direct experience and realization, out of compassion, undetermined nor limited by any worldly individuals or organizations to qualified or certified them to be sharing love, peace, compassion and wisdom with anybody, without intention, without identification, without discrimination, without attachment, they are not determined nor limited by any qualities of names and forms, nor will they strengthen the worldly ideas and attachment towards the qualities of names and forms, when the basic teaching and practice of yoga and meditation is to go beyond all these qualities of names and forms, and realize selflessness, namelessness and formlessness.

Those who are suffering, and are determined to be free from suffering, they will either meet the teacher, or the teacher will come to them naturally, when the time is right, to guide them, to show them the way. And the teacher is not necessary in a form of human beings who bear the title of "experienced, qualified and certified yoga teacher".

Everything else is just a play of some worldly ideas and egoistic desires.

The Truth or Dharma, is always here as it is. It doesn't belong to anyone or any organizations. It is not limited in yoga schools, yoga courses, yoga classes or yoga teachers. It's not tradable nor exchangeable. It can't be sold nor be bought. It is whether we realize it, or not.

Om shanti.

Humanity?

Humanity alone doesn't free us from unhappiness or suffering. Without realization of the truth of selflessness, or attributelessness, namelessness and formlessness, humanity is also one of the many qualities of names and forms that binds us to unhappiness and suffering.

Just by identify ourselves as human beings and attach to the thinking and belief about - As "human beings", we all should behave like how "proper", or "normal", or "good" human beings should behave... is also part of the play of ignorance and egoism, and is what generating separateness, discrimination, prejudice, disappointment, dissatisfaction, anger, hatred, superiority and inferiority, craving and aversion, fear and worry, where all these defilements are the cause of disharmony, restlessness or suffering in oneself and in the society.

This doesn't mean that we shouldn't have humanity in the society, or we don't have to be "good" human beings. We do our best, perform all our duties and responsibilities, but be free from ignorance, egoism, identification, attachment, judgment, comparison and expectation towards oneself and others that we all as "human beings" must comply to what we think and believe what humanity is. Then the real unconditional "humanity" that is beyond all the qualities of names and forms will shine in oneself and in the society. There's no difference or separateness between human beings and non-human beings, or between "good" human beings and "bad" human beings.

Only through this realization, the society can be free from anger and hatred, or have peace and harmony, starting from oneself.

It's the same as in a family, or in a community, or in any relationships, or in a corporate work place, or in any organizations. Egoism is the root cause of disharmony and inefficiency in all fields. And the vanish of egoism is the underlying criteria for harmony and efficiency in any fields.

Om shanti.

Know what we really really want, and be free...

It doesn't matter who and what we think we are, or what we want ourselves to be, we can call ourselves 'this' or 'that', and tell ourselves and other people what type of life we want, or we can tell different things about ourselves to different people, it doesn't mean that 'this' is who we are. Only ourselves will know what is going on in our mind, and what the ego really wants to do or what it truly desires. And we can give in to the ego and let the ego leads this life existence based on its desires and craving. Or, we can be determined to develop non-attachment and self-control, and be free from being influenced or over-powered by the ego and its endless desires. There's neither good nor bad, neither right nor wrong. It is about what we (the egoistic thinking mind) really want for ourselves, for this life existence. Be happy.

When we feel unhappy, troubled or depressed being disturbed by some "problems", or when there is some "difficult" decisions that we need to make, this is because we don't know what we really want, and we have fear towards taking the responsibility towards our decisions and actions, and the consequences of our decisions and actions.

 

Before we get what we think we want, and after we got what we think we want, we are still not satisfied, not happy, and have doubts, because we don't know what we really want.

It doesn't matter how we identify ourselves with certain names and forms of particular specie, gender, sexual orientation, family background, social group, race, nationality, culture, thinking, belief, religion, education, social status, appearance, living condition, life style, personality, characteristic, behavior, financial status, possession, relationship, and etc, it makes no difference when we are ignorant towards the truth of who/what is this "I" that we think is who we are, and we attach strongly onto all these impermanent qualities to be who we are, where all these different qualities of names and forms, are subject to selfless impermanent changes. And ignorance doesn't stop at the point where we identify ourselves with all these qualities to be who we are, but this life existence that built on confidence, self-esteem, self-worth, happiness and meaningfulness are also being determined by all these qualities.

For example, we are being determined by the impermanent conditions and abilities of the physical body and the mind with certain qualities of names and forms to feel good and confident about ourselves, or we are being determined by other people's judgment towards ourselves to feel good and confident about ourselves, or we are being determined by other people's liking, friendship, support, agreement, acknowledgment, affirmation and social interaction to feel good and meaningful about life and ourselves, or we being are determined by how intelligent or how attractive we are to feel confident about ourselves, or we are being determined by whether we are able to do what we like to do, and not doing anything that we don't like to do, to feel happy, or not. And so on.

There's nothing wrong with all these worldly identification, thinking and behavior coming from the ego and egoism. But we are not free, being disturbed and affected by the impermanent changes of qualities of names and forms to feel meaningful, happy and confident, or not. And this will affect our relationship with our own self and with others. As whether we will like and accept ourselves or not, and whether we will be satisfied in a single intimate relationship or not, is being affected and determined by the forever dissatisfaction towards ourselves, due to the endless craving towards possessing the qualities that we would like to be identifying with, but these qualities are not available to us in the present moment, and even after we possessed certain qualities that we want to be identifying with, they are impermanent and will change and disappear.

When we practice yoga and meditation, we are letting go of all these attachment and identification towards impermanent qualities of names and forms.

The entire life existence is free from being determined by all these impermanent qualities of names and forms to be meaningful, happy and confident, or not.

When egoism and ignorance vanished, there's no "I" existing. There's no "I" being there that needs to be identified as 'somebody' with certain qualities of names and forms, to feel good or confident about oneself, or "I". The mind is peaceful as it is, because it is no longer being determined by any qualities of names and forms that is impermanent, that is not in the control of "I", that is ever dissatisfying, that is not what it is.

Be free.

Om shanti.

Non-identification - Letting go of worldly identification with certain qualities of names and forms...

In the world of names and forms, our mind is being conditioned to believe that it is very "important" about having an "identity" of who we are that attached to certain qualities of names and forms to be "who we are".

There's nothing wrong with this worldly thinking and belief, but we need to know how to accept ourselves as who we think we are, without expecting other people to accept us as what we think we are, and allow other people to be free whether to accept us as what we think we are, or not.

In yoga practice, we are letting go of any identifications with any qualities of names and forms to be "who we are". We don't even need to accept ourselves as we are, nor expecting anyone to accept us as we are. As there is no "I" existing to be identified as "somebody" with certain qualities of names and forms.

Realize this and be free.

Om shanti.