It has to come from the mind itself to let go and be free

If all minds can let go all kinds of attachment, identification, desire, possessiveness, or the past, there will be peace in the world.

It's not about eliminating ignorance, egoism, impurities, selfishness, greed, fear, anger, hatred, resentment, vengeance, or violence in the world. It's impossible.

Peace in the world is the reflection of peace in the minds.

It has to come from each and every mind themselves, to let go and be free from the idea of 'I', ignorance, egoism, impurities and restlessness, and have peace.

None can tell or advise another mind to let go and be free.

It has to come from the mind itself to let go and be free from all kinds of attachment, identification, desire, possessiveness, or the past.

All kinds of fear, anger, hatred, resentment, vengeance, or violence don't exist in the mind that doesn't hold onto any attachment, identification, desire, possessiveness, or the past.

Whatever happened and is happening in the world, especially under the era of higher and higher advance science and technology, it only indicates how much unnecessary destruction and suffering that the human minds can generate into the world under the influence of the idea of 'I', ignorance, egoism, impurities and restlessness.

Inquire the truth of everything, and have peace in oneself, regardless of all kinds of madness in the world of ignorance and egoism.

Worldly self-identity and group identity

As soon as one identifies with a quality of name and form, not to say, most minds identify with different qualities of names and forms simultaneously as 'This is I with such and such qualities', one generates separateness between 'I' and others who don't identify with the similar qualities of names and forms, or who identify with some other kinds of quality of names and forms that are different from oneself.

No doubt that living in the modern society, everyone need to have a personal identity that allows people to have a registered given name and identity number, to be legalized to apply for a citizenship, to open a bank account, to enroll for school education, to find a job, to purchase property, to have a passport to travel, to be monitored/controlled by 'certain organizations', and so on.

For many people, personal identity doesn't just stop at the legality purpose to be living and moving around in this world 'legally' and 'conveniently', but many people put high importance/necessity onto the self/group identification with certain qualities of names and forms to be acknowledged by oneself and others as 'I' or 'This is I with such and such qualities', to nurture/empower self-esteem and take pride in being 'somebody with such and such qualities' and to attain the recognition/respect/approval as 'somebody with such and such qualities' to feel satisfy, confident, happy and meaningful towards oneself and one's life existence, which is truly unnecessary.

Self/group identification with qualities of names and forms gives rise to the sense of separateness that generate many side-effects of unnecessary 'problems' of discrimination/prejudice/hatred/bullying/violence in the world.

In the world where most minds are functioning under the influence of ignorance and egoism, and most people deliberately teaching/encouraging/influencing everyone to develop and empower a strong self and group identity that attached onto certain qualities of names and forms from very young age to be who they are, or 'This is I' and 'This is my origin/ancestor/race/tribe/family/friends/relatives/community/social circle/culture/religion/spirituality/gender/sexuality/education/qualification/nationality/political stand, and so on, and that they should take pride for being identifying with those qualities of names and forms as 'who they are', and that they should protect/defend those qualities of names and forms AT ALL COST. And hence, all kinds of fear, discrimination, defensiveness, animosity, intimidation, offensiveness, prejudice, hatred, bullying and violence exist due to this ignorant egoistic prideful 'self/group identity'.

People don't need to discriminate, intimidate, condemn, bully and attack other beings just because one dislikes and disagrees with the others based on one's attachment and identification with certain qualities of names and forms that is different from the others. But due to ignorance and egoism of attachment and identification with the sense of pride, arrogance and superiority towards certain qualities of names and forms, there are those who feel proudness and superiority towards their particular thinking and belief, as well as there are those who want their identification with certain qualities of names and forms that are different from the others to be verified, approved, acknowledged, accepted and respected by the others who are different from them in the society, to receive understanding, equal treatment, kindness and friendliness from others, to feel satisfy, happy, confident and meaningful about themselves and their life existence, but this actually creates the opportunity for discrimination to be existing.

One can have a particular way of thinking and belief/disbelief, way of life and way of doing things, skin colour, sexual orientation, genital organ, physical appearance, physical ability/disability, action and reaction. But, all these qualities of names and forms are not 'I' or 'who I am'. One doesn't need to be verified, approved, acknowledged, accepted and respected by the others who are different from oneself in the society, and one doesn't need to rely on receiving understanding, equal treatment, kindness and friendship from others, to feel happy, satisfy, confident and meaningful about oneself and one's life existence, if one knows yoga/dharma, or namelessness/formlessness/attributelessness/selflessness.

What other people want to think, believe, feel, act and react is their freedom, even when they are discriminating others who are different from them, whom they dislike and disagree with, but one doesn't need to be determined or disturbed by other people's thinking, belief, feeling, action and reaction that are not necessarily agreeable, pleasant, friendly, nice or kind, if oneself is free from ignorance and egoism of attachment and identification, or free from expectation towards how other people should and shouldn't think and behave and treat others.

Anyone who identifies with any qualities of names and forms as 'This is who I am with such and such qualities', and expect to be verified, approved, acknowledged, accepted and respected by others, will never be free from generate discrimination towards others and perceive discrimination from others. This is a 'natural' behavior of all minds under the influence of ignorance and egoism. Most minds don't like to be discriminated and will feel angry, disrespected, insulted, bullied, attacked and hurt when being discriminated, but then they don't mind discriminating others, whether wittingly or unwittingly.

Not all who think themselves are 'yogi/yoga practitioner' or 'Buddhist' are all really practicing yoga and Buddhism. Those who truly practice yoga or Buddhism, they go beyond all the mind perception of different qualities of names and forms. They don't have identification as 'yogi' or 'Buddhist'. They only see a whole bunch of mortal beings that are subject to the suffering of ignorance, egoism, impurities and restlessness, and all kind of names and forms are subject to impermanence and selflessness. All beings are mere moving skeletons covered with skin, flesh, blood, organs, nerves, glands, pus, pee and shit with limited life span that is subject to changes, decay, illness, old age and death/decomposition. There's no superiority or inferiority. There's no good people or bad people. There's no black or white. There's no male or female. There's no enjoyable or non-enjoyable. There's no separateness or discrimination or fear or hatred. The physical body that comes in different qualities of names and forms is being born to change, decay and decompose from the very beginning of it's existence, regardless of what qualities of names and forms that everyone identify themselves with as 'who they are'.

All these identifications and discrimination towards different identifications are truly unnecessary, if one knows how to transcend all the different qualities of names and forms. All these different qualities of names and forms are not 'I'. Be free from any self/group identity with any qualities of names and forms. Neither this or that is 'I'. Who and what is there to receive discrimination from anybody, if there's no 'I' or 'This is I with certain qualities of names and forms'?

If people want to discriminate others, or they are being discriminated by others due to attachment and identification with the qualities of names and forms to be who they are, and they are longing for endorsement, acknowledgement, acceptance, respect, approval, understanding or friendliness from others, that's their freedom.

The mind that knows the truth of ignorance and egoism is free from any self/group identity. One will be free and peaceful, and allow others to be what/who they think they are, thinking and behaving as they are. None can remove or take away the ignorance and egoism in others, not even enlightened beings who were/are free from ignorance and egoism.

Those who know, some of them retreat from the worldly minded society that emphasizes on developing/empowering self/group identity, to conserve energy, to live a simple quiet life. Those who remain in the society, they are not determined or disturbed by the ignorance of others.

The mind is being hardwired by worldly thinking and belief that based on egoism

Many people are not interested in letting go of the ego, while there are people who are interested in letting go of the ego, but they find that it's not that easy to be free from the ego or egoism. This is because the mind is being hardwired by worldly thinking and belief that based on egoism.

The moment we were born into this world, we were being nurtured or conditioned under the worldly thinking and belief that based on egoism to identify this life existence of a body and a mind with certain qualities of names and forms to possess a strong worldly personal identity of "This is I", "This is what I am", "This is who I am", "This is where I came from/belong", "This is what I should believe", "This is how I should think, behave, act, react and feel", "This is good and right" or "This is bad and wrong", "This is successful and meaningful" or "This is failure and meaningless", "This is happiness" or "This is unhappiness", and etc. We were being told that "This is who I am", and if we behave like this and achieve this 'quality', then "I am good" or "I deserve happiness", while if we behave like that and don't achieve this 'quality', then "I am bad" or "I don't deserve happiness".

Human beings are being hardwired by the worldly thinking and belief that are influenced by a particular heritage/cultural/religious/political/social/commercial belief, values and ethics to feel good, happy, proud, and meaningful about oneself or one's existence if one conforms to that particular thinking and belief to live life, to behave, to act and react, or to think and feel. As well as to feel bad, unhappy and guilty/shameful about oneself or one's existence if one doesn't conform to that particular thinking and belief to live life, to behave, to act and react, or to think and feel.

The sense of belonging is one of the characteristics of the ego. Human beings are being hardwired to think and believe that everyone should attached onto and identified themselves with a personal identity as well as a group identity of family/community/tribe/regional/national/spiritual/religious/gender/sexual orientation/and etc that make them feel that this is "who I am" and "where I belong". It's very difficult for many people to understand that the life existence of a body and a mind doesn't really need any identifications or sense of belonging to be 'somebody', to feel secured, proud, good, confident, or meaningful. Even 'psychologists' who deal with psychology problems (especially dealing with low self-esteem and depression), believe that human beings need to/should attached onto and identify themselves with a 'strong' personal identity as well as a group identity that make them feel that this is "who I am" and "where I belong", to feel secured, proud, good, confident, and meaningful about themselves. There's nothing wrong with that, just that it doesn't stop people from continuously be disturbed or determined by craving and aversion towards all the perceptions of names and forms, and perceive or experience suffering. As the minds are still not free from the root cause of all kinds of affliction and suffering - ignorance and egoism.

Ignorance doesn't allow the mind to know that it can be free, peaceful, happy, and live life meaningfully as it is, without any personal/group identifications or sense of belonging, being free from all kinds of insecurity, low self-esteem, meaninglessness, void, loneliness, craving, fear, hurt, sorrow, grief, anger, hatred, bitterness, affliction, or suffering that arise due to ignorance and egoism.

Ignorance and egoism stop people from letting go of the ego or worldly personal/group identity with some qualities of names and forms. There is huge fear towards the unknown. The mind doesn't know why, but there is great fear or resistance towards not being 'somebody' that will make 'I' and other people to feel proud of 'my existence', that belongs to a particular 'family'/'community'/'area'.

Based on the thinking and belief that was being hardwired into the mind about what is good and bad, right and wrong, should and shouldn't, that influence how one should think, analyze, reason, judge, behave, desire, feel, act and react, the ego constantly judges itself as well as others, and has great expectation towards oneself and others to conform to that particular thinking and belief to think, analyze, reason, judge, behave, desire, feel, act, and react towards everything that the mind perceives or experiences through the senses. The ego ceaselessly looking for acceptance, approval, support, acknowledgement, agreement, attention, liking, love, respect, praise, and compliment, from the world or the society that it thinks it belongs to. The ego doesn't want to possess or be related to anything that doesn't conform to that thinking and belief. It will feel bad, dissatisfied, disappointed, or shameful about itself and others who doesn't conform to that thinking and belief. It wants to build a worthy reputation as well as it would do anything to protect that reputation at any cost.

Even those who are practicing yoga, would also identify themselves as 'such and such' yogi, 'I' practice 'such and such' yoga, 'I' came from/belong to 'such and such' yoga lineage/school/group/community/affiliation, or 'I' have 'such and such' certifications and qualifications and years of experience.

It's up to everyone's self-inquiry and self-realization whether one will realize what is going on in this mind and be free from ignorance and egoism, or not.

No one can discipline our mind for us but the mind itself

No one can discipline our mind for us but the mind itself.

No one can purify our mind for us but the mind itself.

No one can do our practice for us but the mind itself.

No one can free the mind from ignorance and egoism for us but the mind itself.

No one can liberate the mind from suffering of anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, lust, pride, dissatisfaction, disappointment, fear and worry for us but the mind itself.

When the mind is free from ignorance and egoism and impurities, the mind will be peaceful as it is, undetermined by the good or bad condition of the body and the mind, the ups and downs of life experiences, the good and bad relationships with everyone, the good and bad condition of the world and the surrounding environment.

When one thinks and feels and says, "I am contented, happy and peaceful. I'm all good. Life is good. The part of the world where I live in is good. The people in my life are good and wonderful." Know that this mind is not necessarily free. The mind might still be affected and disturbed by what the mind thinks and believes as 'not good', 'bad', 'negative', 'suffering' and 'wrong', based on the worldly thinking and belief that has been ingraining into their minds, influenced by many influences coming from everywhere (The parents, the society, the friends circle, the social network, the education, the religious teachings, the stories told by different people from everywhere, the researchers, the scientists, the philosophers, the medias, the politicians, the world leaders, and so on.)

There's nothing abnormal or wrong for anyone to think and feel contended, happy and peaceful, when one perceives everything about oneself, as well as everything and everyone that are related to one's life, is all good, is the way that how one would like it to be. Or, one should feel grateful when things are like this, and one should feel bad, angry, guilty and shameful when things are like that. And people would hurt themselves or others, in pursuit of a life that they think is 'meaningful', 'fruitful', 'successful' and 'happy', or people might hurt themselves and/or others when they think they should be feeling bad, angry, guilty and shameful about something. People manipulate or make use of other people's feelings and emotions to be 'doing' something for them unwittingly. People stir up other people's anger, hatred and fear to create a situation in the society that will allow them to achieve something that they want.

There are many minds don't mind being 'not free', as they think and believe that that is what human life is about - achieving a life that what they think and believe as 'meaningful', 'fruitful', 'successful' and 'happy'. They are 'free' in their own world when they feel contented and happy (as long as everything and everyone is the way that they like it to be, and all their desires are being gratified). That's their freedom.

Minds that are deeply conditioned by particular thinking and belief to think, to behave, to act and react, to feel confident or not, to feel happy or not, to feel meaningful or not, and to feel good or bad, are easily being influenced by intentional manipulation from those who want to influence the people to think in certain ways and to believe in certain beliefs, so that they can get the support that they want from the people to be in power to achieve what they want to achieve in the world of selfish desires.

The yoga and meditation practice is to purify the mind, to free the mind from the pollution of conditional worldly thinking and belief, which is the product of ignorance and egoism, as well as the fuel that feeds ignorance and egoism. And all these worldly thinking and belief about what is a meaningful, fruitful, successful and happy life, how people should think and behave, act and react, and what people should believe in, are being manipulated by many impure selfish minds. If the mind is under the influence of ignorance and egoism, it is easily be manipulated and influenced by what they perceive through the senses of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and thinking, that are not necessarily the truth of what things are. No matter how intelligent that the mind thinks it is, it still can be manipulated and influenced by worldly conditional thinking and belief, without knowing that it has already been manipulated or influenced by them.

If one's mind starts to reason/doubt/investigate the truth of the information that has been feeding to it from here and there, it will be hammered and threatened by worldly people around and from part of itself that is being conditioned to believe that 'This is bad and evil!', 'This is wrong!', 'You are bad and evil!', 'You don't deserve love and goodness!', 'You will be condemned to hell!', 'You will be punished and suffered!', 'You will bring shame and suffering to your family!', and so on.

We can understand why many religious people or organizations or politicians or capitalists or business people don't like it if people are being exposed to the teachings of BUDDHISM, YOGA and MEDITATION about SELF-INQUIRY to investigate the truth of everything and be free from worldly conditioned thinking and belief. When yoga is being commercialized with lots of 'yoga products' and 'organic health and beauty related yogic products', and there are many of the 'yoga practitioners', 'yoga teachers', or 'yoga lovers' are being influenced by it without knowing that they have become the 'slaves' of particular people or groups or organizations who are playing the mind games.

Yoga and meditation practice is to free the mind that has been conditioning by all these worldly thinking and belief. And thus, there is a very important part of the yoga and meditation practice that is being ignored or criticized by many worldly people, including those who think they love yoga and practice yoga, which is the practice of SILENCE, to be in solitude and seclusion for a sustained period of time (at least 5-6 years), to move away from the society, stop mixing with worldly people, stop engaging in worldly interactions and conversations, stop reading newspapers, novels and magazines, stop watching TV programs, advertisements and movies, stop all kinds of worldly contact and communication. It doesn't matter whether the mind thinks these 'inputs' of the mind are true, or not true. By allowing the mind to be in silence and cleared out of all the worldly thinking and belief, be free from conditional judgment and expectation based on the worldly thinking and belief, the mind will be able to see the truth of things as it is. This sounds extreme or horrible for many people, but it is the most effective way to free the mind from being manipulated or influenced by ceaseless 'inputs' that are not the truth of what things are. Only those who are determined and are fearless to let go all the worldly thinking and belief as well as worldly identity with qualities of names and forms can truly practice yoga and meditation. Or else, everyone is just doing some forms of different styles and brands of 'yoga exercises' to feel good and look good.

Be free.

What your mind thinks and believes is not important, so as what other minds think and believe...

In the worldly thinking and belief, especially in personal growth and empowerment, a person should have or develop a strong personal identity about ‘This is who you are’ and ‘Your thinking and belief, your background, your nationality, your gender, your religion, your family and friends and relatives, your social network, your dreams or aspirations, your profession, your achievements, all your actions and the result of your actions, are what make you who you are, and so, this is your unique personal identity and you should let the world know this is who you are. You should be proud of your thinking and belief, your actions and the result of your actions, and all those qualities that make you for being who you are. You are a very unique individual. You are very important and you deserve the best. You should do your best to make the world, or your family and friends, or your country, or your teachers, or other people to be proud of you and gain their respect towards you. You should defend your personal identity and the rights of your personal identity. You should not lose your personal identity.’

In yoga, what you think is your thinking and belief, your background, your nationality, your gender, your religion, your family and friends and relatives, your social network, your dreams or aspirations, your profession, your achievements, all your actions and the result of your actions, or whatever you think is your identity, are not who you are.

Be free from egoism, identification, and conditioned worldly ideas.

Yoga is the realization of selflessness beyond the function/modification of the mind and the mind perception of qualities of names and forms. What your mind thinks and believes is truly not important, so as what other minds think and believe.

There’s no need to defend anything. There’s no fear of losing anything. There’s no need to gain respect for anything. There’s no need to be proud of anything. There’s no need to be ashamed or regret for anything. There’s no need to be upset or depressed about anything.

It doesn’t mean that one must make sure that everything in life is all good and agreeable, but one can choose to move away from or let go something that doesn’t worth to be wasting one’s energy and effort, that is not in one’s control to be the way that one would like it to be.

Be free.

Accumulated knowledge and self-realized knowledge...

It doesn't matter how many books we have read about yoga and meditation, accumulating lots of information about this and that, from here and there,

We can use those information to talk to other people about yoga and meditation,

Or to teach yoga and meditation classes to others,

And we might feel good and proud about ourselves can teach a relatively good yoga and meditation class based on the information that we acquired from the books, or heard from other people,

But then ourselves are not free from worldly self-image or identifications with different qualities of names and forms,

We attach and rely onto other people's reactions and feedback towards ourselves and our actions or performances, to feel good, happy, meaningful and confident, or not.

We are determined by the impermanent conditions and abilities of the physical body to be who we are,

We are determined by the efficiency of the function of our sense organs and the senses to be who we are,

We are determined by the accumulated knowledge or information to be who we are,

We are determined by a particular (or multiple) specie, gender, culture, race, nationality, belief, religion, points of view, personality, behavior, family ties, personal relationships, interests, talents, skills, sexual orientation, social lifestyle, way of life, living environment and condition, possessions, what we do and don't do, what we have and don't have, acknowledgements, individual or group achievements, worldly or spiritual achievements and contributions to be who we are,

We are not free from dissatisfaction, disappointment, frustration, irritation, greed, anger, hatred, jealousy, animosity, regrets, guilt, feelings of hurts, fear and worry,

We perceive ourselves as victims of suffering, impermanence, crisis, unjust, discrimination, prejudice, racism, betrayal, fraud, lies, misunderstanding, or ill-treatment,

We still have many worldly desires need to be fulfilled, there are many worldly or spiritual activities we need to accomplish, to feel meaningful and confident about ourselves and life existence,

And we are disturbed and determined by whatever the mind perceives through the senses, and haven't realize unconditional love and peace, to be in harmony within oneself and with other beings or the environment,

We expect other beings and the environment that we don't like or disagree with will change into something that what we think and believe as the way it should be or the way that we like it to be,

As we are still very much being over-powered by the egoism, the worldly self-image and self-esteem, the actions and the fruit of actions, the conditioned and limited thinking and beliefs, the feelings and emotions, the desires, the likes and dislikes, the agreements and disagreements, the craving and aversion coming from the impure egoistic mind,

As we haven't realized the knowledge of the Self, about non-duality, non-separateness, attributelessness, namelessness and formlessness through our own self-realization,

It means we still need to work on disciplining ourselves, purifying and restraining the mind.

Keep practice.

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.