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.

I love yoga?

We think we love yoga.

We love to do yoga asana exercises, as it makes us feel peaceful and calm for some time afterwards.

Our physical body has been gaining some benefits from the yoga asana practice regularly and becomes stronger and more flexible. We can perform some of the yoga asana poses that we couldn't perform in the beginning. We gain certain amount of self-confidence and improving tremendously in overall well-being.

It makes us feel good and look good. Our body and mind feels good.

We attend different types of yoga (asana) classes regularly, we perform our yoga asana practice either at home or at yoga centre, by ourselves or under the teacher's instructions. We also have attended some special yoga courses, or yoga retreats, or yoga festivals here and there.

We call and identify ourselves as "yogi", or "yoga practitioner", or "yoga teacher".

We tell ourselves and the world "I love yoga!"

And yet, in everyday life, we still feel that we need to get rid of or to get away from "something" that we think which makes us feel unhappy, hurt, insulted, humiliated, angry, fear, worry, depressed, disappointed, tired, exhausted or stressed, physically, mentally, emotionally...

We think and feel that we and other people should behave in certain ways, or else we and other people are not good human beings, or we feel dissatisfied and disappointed in ourselves or in others.

We are affected, disturbed, influenced and determined by the qualities of names and forms that possessed by the body and mind. We are affected, disturbed, influenced and determined very much by what the mind perceives through the senses of what we see, hear, smell, taste, touch and think.

It doesn't matter who we think we are and what we do in life professionally, we attached to all these qualities of names and forms to be who we are, and we don't have self-control over our thoughts, action and speech, but being over-powered by egoism, pride, arrogance, anger, hatred, jealousy, fear, worry, ill-will, animosity, offensiveness, defensiveness, craving and aversion, constantly hurting ourselves and others.

We are disturbed by how we judge about ourselves and how other people judge about us.

We swing back and forth from one extreme to the other extreme, couldn't stay on the middle path.

We read books and study subjects about this and that, and generate like or dislike, agreement or disagreement based on what our mind believes what things are and how things should be like.

Then it doesn't matter we tell ourselves and the world about how much "I love yoga", and do all the yoga things, we are just wandering left and right at the very beginning path of yoga, we haven't make any progression towards yoga...

If we truly practice yoga and love yoga, we let go of identification with qualities of names and forms, let go of the egoism and attachment towards the body and mind, let go of impurities that hurt ourselves and others, let go of the little "I" and "mine-ness", let go of pride and arrogance, let go of the fruit of actions, let go of criticism towards ourselves and others, we love and accept ourselves and others as we are, as they are... And all these have nothing to do with how strong and flexible is our body, how many yoga asana poses we can perform, how perfect is the physical alignment to perform the exercises, how many yoga classes we have been attending, how many certificates we attained, or how much knowledge or information about yoga that we attain from reading and hearing...

When we let go egoism, there’s no “I” or “I love yoga”.

Om shanti.

Letting go of the ego - Letting go of pride and arrogance...

This is not as easy as it says...

At least if we want, we can try our best...

To let go of the ego...

Letting go of pride and arrogance...

We don't really need pride and arrogance to be "somebody"...

We don't even need to be "somebody" with certain pride to be living in this world...

This life existence does not exist without the sun, the air, the water, the earth and the space providing and supporting all beings to be existing in this world...

Life can be without pride and arrogance...

It will be less tensions and more peaceful...

If anyone is being happy and peaceful by possessing pride and arrogance, and wants to continue to be proud and arrogant, there is nothing wrong with that... Be happy being proud and arrogant...

Deep inside us, we know that actually we are not really confident and are not happy about ourselves, that's why we need to possess pride and arrogance to feel good about ourselves, and to feel we are stronger and better than anyone else...

The ego is neither good nor bad. If we identify with the ego, we will be over-powered by the idea of "I" and "mine", desires, cravings and aversions, and being restless, busy with building up a worldly self-image or social status, and getting what we desire, and busy protecting the self-image that we built up for ourselves and protecting all the attachments, possessions and belongings, and be in fear and worry towards losing what we think is "I" (that "built" on pride, self-image, self-esteem, self-worth, accumulation of knowledge, wealth, health, relationships, achievements and etc...) If we know how to not identify with it, and just let the physical body with the thinking faculty to be performing its necessary function for maintaining this life existence, we will be free and happy being "what we are", as we are, and not trying to become somebody with certain prideful or proud deserving self-image and qualities...

If we want to be truly confident and happy, we really need to let go of the identification with the ego, or the idea of 'I', letting go of pride and arrogance that comes along with the ego...

We need to be able to accept ourselves as we are, and not looking forward trying to be somebody else that we are not, even if we "think" that we are not perfect... And when we realize the true nature of what we think we are, which is perfect, selfless, attributeless, nameless and formless, there is no need of attaining "good qualities" to be proud and arrogant, to support us or to determine us to be "what we are"...

Before we can "let go of the ego", we need to know who or what is this ego...

Whenever there is cognition about "I", "my", "mine", "I am", "I am not", "I feel", "I don't feel", "I like", "I don't like", "I want", "I don't want", "I agree", "I don't agree", "I am peaceful", "I am not peaceful", "I am good", "I am not good", "I am positive", "I am negative", "I am happy", "I am not happy", "I am wise", "I am not wise", "I am compassionate", "I am not compassionate", "I am superior", I am inferior", "I am special", "I am not special", "I am a yogi", "I am a yoga teacher", "I am strong", "I am not strong", "I am so and so", "I am this or that", "I practice yoga", "I don't practice yoga", "I am a vegetarian", "I am not a vegetarian", "I meditate", "I don't meditate", "I did, I do, I will do", "I didn't do, I don't do, I will not do", "I have to", "I need to", "I wish to", "I don't wish to", "I have", "I don't have", "I am loved", "I am not loved", "I am accepted", "I am rejected", "I've succeeded", "I've failed", and in any other forms of identifications, qualities and perceptions about "I" or "me" or "my" or "mine"... Know that all these are the plays of the ego...

By surrendering the ego, we are letting go of the identification with all these "names and forms", "qualities", "self-judgment", "self-evaluation", "self-image", "self-esteem", "selfish desires", "expectation", and so on... This looks like it's going against the worldly thinking of "Everyone needs to have certain self-image, self-evaluation and self-esteem to be somebody..." or "Everyone needs to have certain expectations to set as a goal to strive to be better and to be successful in life..."

In the path of yoga and meditation, we are going to let go of all these worldly thinking and concepts about "who we should be" and "how we should be"...

We don't just expect ourselves to have certain self-image, but we also project qualities onto other people and give them certain image... And usually we will project an image with certain qualities that comes from our own mind perception onto other people, judging this person as "this" and that person as "that", judging everyone "you are good" and "you are not good" based on what our mind believes what things are... But, how true is our belief, perception and judgment?

For example, we will expect a "yoga teacher" should have certain "yoga teacher" image, and he or she should behave or present himself or herself as what a "yoga teacher" should be behaving... We will expect a "yogi" should have certain "yogi" image, and he or she should behave or present himself or herself as what a "yogi" should be behaving...

And it's not just that, we also think that a "yoga teacher" or a "yogi" should behave as what a "yoga teacher" or "yogi" should behave appropriately, so that other people can follow and imitate that appropriate "image", and learn to become a "proper" yoga teacher or "proper" yogi...

And we get so disappointed by our own expectation towards how other people should behave, when other people didn't "behave" in the way that what we think they should be behaving...

We also get so annoyed and unhappy when other people project different images or judgments onto us, which are contradicted or different from what we think we are... Such like, when we think we are "a nice and good person", but other people didn't think so, and they think that we are "not nice and not good"... And if we identify with the ego, we will be so unhappy and upset when we are being projected by other people as "somebody who is not what we think we are"...

We expect other people to see us or judge us exactly as what we think we are or "what we want" them to think what we are, "a nice and good person"... We want to have a "good" image in other people's mind... We want other people to think that we are "nice and good people"... And we have been doing lots of good, and have been nice and good to other people, how could they possibly think that "I am not nice and not good"...? They are wrong and misunderstood about "me"... And then we will want to justify ourselves or try to convince other people that we are what we think we are, "a nice and good person", and not what they thought what we are not... And if other people still "judge" us differently from what we think we are, we'll be more disappointed, unhappy and upset...

Those who have gone beyond the ego, they will not be bothered by how other people think about them, or judge them, or misunderstood them... Criticism, slandering or condemn won't affect them, nor damage their confidence, nor change who they are and how they are... Neither praise and compliments will affect them, nor increase their confidence, nor change who they are and how they are... They are not being determined, or defined, or conditioned by praise and condemn...

The one who is getting upset and feels insulted is the ego... The one who is getting delighted and feels appreciated is the ego... This is one of the characteristics of the ego...

The ego also likes to compare with others, having jealousy towards other people who are somehow "better", or "happier", or "smarter", or "luckier", or "stronger", "fitter", "wealthier", "more successful", "more popular", or "more superior" than us...

The ego will look down on other people who are somehow "less good", "less happy", "less smart", "less lucky", "less strong", "less fit", "less wealthy", "less successful", "less popular", or "more inferior" than us...

The ego will feel so happy and delighted when things turn out to be the way that it wants it to be...

The ego will feel so unhappy and disappointed if things didn't turn out to be the way that it wants it to be...

The ego also will be so proud and arrogant about the knowledge that it has and the achievements that it attained, and it wants to be noticed and acknowledged by the world about what it knows and what it had achieved... It needs approval, agreement, attention, acknowledgment, support, appreciation and compliment from the world to be "somebody", to feel proud, to feel good, to feel meaningful, to be confident, to be happy, to be special, to be important...

These are the most significant characteristics of the ego, accompanied by pride and arrogance, as well as attachment towards success and failure, praise and condemn, being conditioned and determined by success and failure, praise and condemn to be happy or not happy, to be confident or not confident, to feel meaningful, or not...

When we are full of anger, we project anger onto other people, seeing and hearing everything that we see and hear as an object of anger or the reason to be angry... When our mind is negative, we project everyone and everything as negative... Whatever we see and hear is negative... When our mind is positive, we project everyone and everything as positive... Whatever we see and hear is positive... But, the Truth is, everyone and everything is neither negative nor positive. Everyone and everything is just being what it is... They have no qualities nor intention to be negative or positive... They have no qualities to make us happy or unhappy...

Whenever "we" see, or hear, or experience something that "we" like and agree with, "we" feel good, excited, happy, satisfied, encouraged, motivated and so on... Actually that is the ego comes in contact with what it likes and agrees with... It is the ego feeling good, excited, happy, satisfied, encouraged, motivated and so on...

Whenever "we" see, or hear, or experience something that "we" don't like and don't agree with, "we" feel upset, unhappy, frustrated, irritated, agitated, discouraged, demotivated, disappointed, angry and so on... Actually that is the ego comes in contact with what it doesn't like and disagrees with... It is the ego feeling upset, unhappy, frustrated, irritated, agitated, discouraged, demotivated, disappointed, angry and so on...

To let go of the ego, is to not identify with the ego, and not associate with its reactions towards all the names and forms that the mind perceives or experiences through the senses... And remain unattached towards all these perceptions of names and forms, being the observer or the witness of the thinking mind and its activities...

When "we" feel hurt or feel insulted by somebody or something, that is the ego reacting when it is being challenged for its "power", "knowledge", "authority", "confidence", or "self-image"...

The ego will try its best to "make" other people to like it, to love it, to agree with it, to support it, to respect it, to trust it, to appreciate it, to compliment it, and so on...

The ego wants to be, and needs to be "somebody" with certain image and qualities that is being recognized, approved and acknowledged by family and friends, the leaders, the authority, the society, or the community of the world...

The ego identified and attached to certain self-image, identity, qualities, conditions, abilities, thinking, concepts, beliefs, ideas, traditions, lifestyles, ways of doing things, judgments, possessions, achievements, and so on, to be "somebody"...

The one who wants to express thoughts, ideas, creativity, feelings, emotions, likes and dislikes, wants and don't wants, agreements and disagreements, and so on, under certain intention, motivation and expectation, is the ego...

Justification and arguing is one of the characteristics of the ego... It doesn't like to see or hear something that it doesn't agree with...

The ego depends or relies on "personal" or "professional" image and worldly identifications and achievements, such like, personality, uniqueness, academic and sports achievements, sensual and material enjoyments, personal characteristic and physical appearance, physical and mental conditions and abilities, financial status, social status, religious status, spiritual status, work and social activities and achievements, family and love relationships, friendships, fellowships, material possessions, wealth accumulations, lifestyles, worldly point of views, judgments, expectations and so on, to be "somebody", to be "special", to be "important", to feel good, to feel being needed, to feel meaningful, to feel confident, to feel worthy, to feel deserving, and so on...

The ego is being conditioned and determined by other people's judgments, evaluations, comments, supports, attention, liking, agreement, acknowledgment, acceptance, appreciation, and so on, to be "who we are" in this worldly existence...

The ego is being conditioned and determined by "qualifications", "certifications", "social status", "financial status", "academic status", "lifestyle status", "leisure status", "relationship status", "family status", "spiritual status", "fitness status", "health status", "mental status", "achievements", "personalities", "personal image", "professional image", and so on, to be "somebody" who is well-worth living as a "person" or "human being"...

"We" think that "we" need all these "things" to be "who we are"... But it is just the ego clinging onto, or depending on all these "things" or "qualities" to be "alive", to be "strong" and to be "in control"...

When we identify with the ego, our confidence and sense of self-worth are swaying up and down, according to the identifications, self-image, impermanent qualities and achievements that we create for ourselves... We are restlessly trying to be "somebody" with such and such qualities, making ourselves so busy trying to build up a "lovable", "perfect", "healthy" and "pride deserving" self-image... We are also being busy trying to protect or upkeep this "self-image" that we have created for ourselves... We don't want this "good" self-image to be damaged or contaminated by "bad" reviews or "bad" qualities...

We are full of fear and worry, craving, clinging and aversion...

We are in a constant state of restlessness being dissatisfied for being "who we are" and "how we are" in the present moment now, rejecting and not accepting ourselves as we are...

If we can just let go of this ego, we will be so free being who we are and how we are, in this present moment now, as we are... Not looking forward to try to become "somebody" that we are not...

We can continue to perform actions in the world, to constantly improve, and do our best in our life to pursue all our dreams and goals, but we are no longer being determined, or defined, or conditioned by all these names and forms, and the results of our actions, what we can do and cannot do, what we can achieve and cannot achieve... We are free while at the same time performing necessary actions improving ourselves in life physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually...

We are always confident, it's because we are free from being conditioned and determined by the ego, and not because we are "somebody" with such and such qualities and achievements...

We are always happy, it's because we are free from tensions and discontentment that come from being dissatisfied towards "who we are" and "how we are", and not because we are "somebody", or we are "this" and "that", or we have "this" and "that"...

We can fully enjoy what we do in life for ourselves or for other people, but we are not being determined or defined by all these things (our actions, the fruit of our actions, and the reactions of other people towards our actions)...

Yoga and meditation practice is nothing but to eliminate this ego... And be free.

This is truly liberation, being free from the ego, be free from the "worldly standardized" self-image, social status, pride and arrogance...

Om shanti.