Yoga is universal

Regardless of whatever the different minds want it to be, yoga is universal.

Yoga is beyond spirituality and non-spirituality. It is neither spiritual nor non-spiritual. There's neither "I am spiritual" nor "I am non-spiritual."

The minds that are sentimental or believing in spirituality, then yoga can appear to be something sentimental or spiritual for them.

The minds that are non-sentimental or non-believing in spirituality, then yoga can appear to be something non-sentimental or non-spiritual for them.

As regardless of whatever is happening within the modification of the mind, whether the mind believes or disbelieves in spirituality, whether the mind is sentimental or non-sentimental, whether ignorance is present or absent in the mind, whether the mind is intellectual or non-intellectual, whether the mind is pure or impure, or whether the mind is peaceful or non-peaceful, yoga is beyond the limited conditional selfless modification of the mind, or the different states of the mind.

Yoga of selflessness, oneness, non-separateness, or the selfless universal consciousness, is beyond the selfless impermanent existence and function of all minds, and/or beyond the mind perception of all the different impermanent qualities of selfless names and forms.

All kinds of yoga practice that served the purpose of disciplining, calming, purifying, and quieting the modification of the mind, to eradicate the idea of 'I' and egoism, is to prepare the mind for meditation, and to perform self-inquiry towards the truth of selflessness and impermanence, to attain self-realization.

Upon the attainment of self-realization, where the mind realized selflessness and absorbed in silence (the annihilation of the modification of the mind), there is neither spiritual nor non-spiritual.

Yoga is merely the selfless reflection reflecting what all and everything are, selfless and impermanent, ceaselessly arising, changing, and passing away upon the changeless, timeless, causeless, limitless, nameless, formless, attributeless, actionless, birthless, deathless, beginningless, endless, selfless consciousness, that is uncontaminated or undetermined by any selfless impermanent quality, or duality, or name and form.

All minds can attain self-realization via self-initiative, self-purification, self-determination, self-independence, self-discipline, self-effort, and self-inquiry, except the minds that are expecting and waiting for an enlightened being or Guru to give them 'miracle touch' or 'mystical healing', and/or even give them enlightenment or liberation, and that's their freedom of thinking and desire.

All kinds of external teachings and teachers/gurus are merely providing some guidance to the minds for them to reflect upon, or showing the path/direction that leads the mind onto the practice, but the only teacher/guru that can free the mind from ignorance, is the mind itself. No any other teachers, or gurus, or liberated minds, can remove the ignorance in any minds, but the mind itself, alone.

The idea, or the notion, or the thinking, or the understanding, or the identification of, "I have a Guru," or "I don't have a guru," or "I am a yogi," or "I have been practicing yoga for how many years," or "I am a qualified and certified yoga teacher," or "I am advanced and highly experienced yogi/yoga teacher," or "I am an enlightened yogi/yoga Guru," or "I am a master trainer of yoga teachers," or "I am the founder/member of a yoga organization," or "Yoga came from and belongs to particular religion, country, place, community, organization, authority, and etc," doesn't mean anything. All these are merely indicating that the mind is still functioning under the influence of ignorance, the idea of 'I', and egoism.

The mind is the one and only teacher/guru that teaches and liberates itself, by itself, alone.

Renounce the world of MAYA, of 'I'-ness, 'mine'-ness, ignorance, egoism, passion, admiration, glorification, pride, hypocrisy, untruthfulness, desire, greed, ambitiousness, restlessness, selfishness, possessiveness, discrimination, self-righteousness, blind-believing/following/practicing/propagating/worshiping, superstition, story making/telling, petty-mindedness, jealousy, anger, hatred, fear, power, and violence, is the key to self-realization.

Transcending or going beyond all kinds of so called 'beautiful', 'out of the world', 'amazing', 'magnificent', 'magical', 'mystical', or 'transcendental' mind perception of names and forms, or the play of sights, lights, colours, sounds, smells, tastes, or sensations. None can force or influence another to renounce the world. It's the mind's own self-initiative and determination.

Inquire the truth of everything.

Limitation in speech, expression, communication, language, literacy, knowledge or intelligence

Limitation in speech, expression, communication, language, literacy, knowledge or intelligence doesn't determine the presence or absence of the idea of 'I', ignorance, egoism, impurities and restlessness, or the absence or presence of correct understanding, loving kindness, unselfishness, non-possessiveness, non-greed, non-discrimination, non-violence, respect, compassion, wisdom, peace and harmony in the mind.

The mind that is endowed with super extraordinary talent and skill in speech, expression and communication, knowing all kinds of languages that are existing in the world, being highly literate, knowledgeable and intelligent, and vice versa, doesn't guarantee that there is the absence or the presence of the idea of 'I', ignorance, egoism, impurities and restlessness, or there is the presence or the absence of correct understanding, loving kindness, unselfishness, non-possessiveness, non-greed, non-discrimination, non-violence, respect, compassion, wisdom, peace and harmony in the mind.

Unless there's certain serious deformity or non-rehabilitate illness, injuries or damages in the brains, where the selfless perceptive cognitive intellectual emotional thinking and acting faculty cannot function properly, all minds can be free from the idea of 'I', ignorance, egoism, impurities and restlessness, if there's an intense yearning for liberation, perseverance and determination, under right understanding, right concentration and right effort, and can attain correct understanding that gives rise to loving kindness, unselfishness, non-possessiveness, non-greed, non-discrimination, non-violence, respect, compassion, wisdom, peace and harmony in the mind, regardless of the presence of certain limitation in speech, expression, communication, language, literacy, knowledge or intelligence, even if the mind was being conditioned or influenced by certain incorrect thinking and understanding, that has been influencing how the mind thinks, believes, reasons, understands, feels, desires, behaves, acts and reacts in certain way, just like Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, Swami Sivananda, or Ajahn Chah.

Even Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, Swami Sivananda and Ajahn Chah were also having certain limitation in certain things, and they still managed to attain self-realization through intense yearning for liberation, perseverance and determination, under right understanding, right concentration and right effort.

Inquire the truth of everything.

It's all about liberation, freedom, or independence

The teachings and practice of yoga and buddhism is all about attaining liberation, freedom, or independence. They all are the same thing under different names and forms.

It's liberation from ignorance, egoism, impurities and restlessness.

It's freedom from the idea of 'I' that generates the sense of separateness that gives rise to attachment, possessiveness and fear, or the corrupted thinking and limited understanding, or the disturbance and suffering deriving from being limited and conditioned by ignorance, egoism, impurities and restlessness, of not knowing Thyself, or being ignorant towards the truth of selflessness and impermanence.

It's mental and emotional independence upon the annihilation of ignorance, egoism, impurities and restlessness, that is highly important for peace and harmony in the minds, that is about not being influenced or conditioned by passionate egoistic thinking, belief, values and practice, and hence, being undetermined or undisturbed by the presence and absence of all kinds of pleasant or unpleasant, agreeable or disagreeable, desirable or undesirable, and enjoyable or non-enjoyable experiences, relationships, interactions, affairs, conditions and situations, that also leads to less a mind generating unnecessary unrest and disharmony into the world of diversity.

Since it's all about liberation, freedom and independence, that's why there's no authority, authorization, judgment, or punishment on the path of yoga and/or buddhism, to be controlling anyone to be or not to be in certain way, but it's coming from everyone's own freewill and desire to be observing self-discipline, self-control, self-effort, self-purification and self-inquiry to be attaining self-realization, out of their own freewill and desire to be free from ignorance and the suffering deriving from ignorance, where the selfless minds be self-initiated, to learn, practice, evolve, and realize, at their own cause.

There's no force, or threat, or temptation, or implanting fear into the minds to 'make' the mind to be learning and practicing yoga and/or buddhism.

It is not a belief, it's just the dhamma or the teachings and the practice, as it is, and hence, there's no believe or disbelieve, there's no believers, followers or worshipers, there's only students or practitioners. Upon self-realization towards selflessness and impermanence, there's no separation or distinction between the teachings, the teachers and the students, or the dhamma, the practice and the practitioners. It's all the selfless mind itself.

There's no blind-believing, blind-following, blind-practicing, or blind-propagating, it's about freewill and self-effort to be inquiring the truth of everything, including all the teachings and practices of yoga and/or buddhism that the mind comes in contact with, that are not necessarily dhamma as it is, as there might be misinterpretation, or being mixed with certain worldly passionate egoistic ideas, desires, belief and practice, under the influence of ignorance.

It doesn't matter if the minds don't have any interest at all towards the teachings and practice in the present moment.

It doesn't matter if the minds have some interest and effort towards learning and practicing the teachings and practice in the present moment, but then stop learning and practicing for any reason.

It doesn't matter if the minds are learning and practicing yoga and/or buddhism that is not necessarily yoga as it is, or buddhism as it is.

It doesn't matter if the minds are misunderstanding or misinterpreting towards the teachings and practice, or misusing the teachings and practice for certain selfish purposes, intentions or desires.

It all has to come from the mind's free will and self-effort whether to be interested, to learn, to practice, to evolve, and to realize, or not, at their own cause.

And more importantly, not only that all are impermanent, but all are also selfless.

The selfless mind that is not interested now, might be interested at another time. The selfless mind that has stopped practicing, might be resuming the practice again. The selfless mind that is misunderstanding, or misinterpreting, or misusing the teachings and practice under the influence of ignorance, might be free from the influence of ignorance at its own cause, and attains correct understanding towards the teachings and practice.

The dhamma, or the truth being what it is, can never be 'determined', 'disturbed', 'contaminated', 'changed', 'disrespected', 'offended', or 'hurt' by anyone or anything, under any selfless impermanent changes, conditions or situations, upon some selfless minds misinterpreting, misunderstanding, misusing, mistreating, criticizing or condemning the dhamma. The dhamma doesn't increase or decrease upon some selfless minds realizing the dhamma, or none realizing the dhamma.

There's no judgment, bad karma, sin, or punishment. There's only cause and effect, actions and consequences of actions.

There's no disciplinary authorities constantly watching and judging oneself, one's thinking, one's behavior, one's learning, one's practice, one's evolution all the time.

One is free being what it is and how it is.

One is free to be ignorant, or not. Suffering, or not. Be aware, or not, Be interested, or not. Learn, or not. Practice, or not. Realize, or not. Be happy, or not. Be peaceful, or not. Be free, or not.

One is also be responsible for one's ignorance and consequences of ignorance, one's desire and doesn't desire, one's actions and consequences of actions.

None can remove or annihilate ignorance, egoism, impurities and restlessness for another.

None can give liberation, freedom, or independence to another.

Only through the selfless mind, by itself, alone.

From freewill of wanting to be liberated, to be free and to be independent, that leads to liberation, freedom and independence.

Of course, there are also certain minds don't like, disagree with and don't desire liberation, freedom and independence, either it's about themselves or it's about others, or both. That's everyone's freedom of thinking, belief, values, practice and desire. There's neither right nor wrong, neither good nor bad.

All are impermanent.

Inquire the truth of everything.

It has to come from the mind itself to be awakened from ignorance

None can remove the veil of ignorance for another.

None can make another to be awakened from ignorance.

The awakening from ignorance doesn't mean that the veil of ignorance is no longer existing in the mind, but it's merely the mind is being aware of and acknowledging the existence of ignorance in itself, that initiates the mind to make an effort for finding out more information or knowledge about how to be free from ignorance, that leads the mind onto the path of eradicating ignorance from the mind, through self-effort, self-independence, self-discipline, self-purification, self-inquiry and self-realization.

Those who have made the effort to come in contact with this blog or come in contact with the teachings of yoga and/or buddhism in some other forms, is deriving from their own awakening from ignorance, of being aware of the existence of ignorance in themselves, and it's their own effort of wanting to know Thyself, and to be free from ignorance.

All kinds of 'imperfect' teachings in certain names and forms, are merely for the mind to be reflecting upon, that stand as a reflective mirror for the mind to look into itself, to attain self-realization towards selflessness and impermanence.

It's neither easy nor difficult.

The keyword is - Never give up, never despair, keeps going until the mind is free. And even if the mind thinks that it is still not free by the end of life existence, and it's okay, remain equanimous, as even this is also selfless and impermanent. That alone, is liberation.

Inquire towards the truth of everything in accordance to logic and science, not according to what the mind believes or disbelieves, agrees or disagrees, likes or dislikes, desires or doesn't desire. Do not blind-believing, blind-following, blind-agreeing/disagreeing, blind-practicing, or blind-propagating, including all kinds of teachings and practice of yoga and/or buddhism coming from different minds from different backgrounds.

Anything that promotes and empowers ignorance, petty-mindedness, untruthfulness, selfishness, possessiveness, desires, fear, greed, envy, pride, superiority, discrimination, separateness, offensiveness, defensiveness, unrest, anger, hatred and violence in oneself and in the world of diversity, one must inquire the truth of it, and attain direct understanding towards why and how does it lead to the empowerment of all that.

Anything that is against ignorance, petty-mindedness, untruthfulness, selfishness, possessiveness, desires, fear, greed, envy, pride, superiority, discrimination, separateness, offensiveness, defensiveness, unrest, anger, hatred and violence in oneself and in the world of diversity, one must also inquire the truth of it, and attain direct understanding towards why and how does it lead to less ignorance, petty-mindedness, untruthfulness, selfishness, possessiveness, desires, fear, greed, envy, pride, superiority, discrimination, separateness, offensiveness, defensiveness, unrest, anger, hatred and violence in oneself and in the world of diversity.

Meanwhile, allowing the world being what it is, even if they are one's beloved family and friends. Full of ignorance and the consequences of ignorance. Let it be. Everyone is free to think, believe and practice what they want to think, believe and practice, or not. It's everyone's freedom and responsibility towards themselves.

It's pointless to be arguing or reasoning with the minds that are under the veil of ignorance, and it will only be causing unnecessary damages to oneself to fight against ignorance, just like continuously punching and kicking the concrete wall.

Similarly, those who are suffering from certain degrees of mental health issues need to have certain degrees of awareness and initiative coming from themselves to be reaching out or looking for help.

Be free.