Want to learn and practice yoga?

Yoga practice is preparing the mind for self-inquiry, inquire towards "What is yoga?", or "The truth of names and forms.", "What is life/worldly life existence?", "What is suffering/the cause of suffering?", or "Who am 'I', or who/what is this 'I' or self cognition/self-existence/self-identity/individual being?"

People could be talking about yoga according to what the Yoga Scripture stated about yoga - "Yoga is the union of the individual consciousness and the universal consciousness." or, "Yoga is the suspension of the modification of the mind." but without direct experience of knowing Thyself, or knowing Yoga.

When people identify and introduce themselves as "I am an experienced yoga practitioner/yoga teacher", or "I have learned/studied/practiced yoga for how many years under such and such Guru/teacher/school", or "I am 200/500 hours certified yoga teacher." it only shows that they don't really know what is 'yoga'. And there's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with being ignorant towards many things under the influence of ignorance. If human beings can be free from ignorance easily, there won't be so much ignorance and the consequences of ignorance in this world.

The realization of selflessness/'I'-lessness/egolessness, or non-duality/oneness/non-separateness/namelessness/formlessness/attributelessness/birthlessness/deathlessness, has nothing to do with whether one had been practicing 'yoga' for how long and how much, or whether one had attended 'yoga teacher training courses' and attained certain 'Internationally recognized/affiliated yoga teacher certification/qualification', or whether one is educated and can converse, read and write in certain language, or not.

Most of the time, when people talk about 'yoga', that they are practicing yoga, that they love yoga, they are talking about the 'yoga' as a form of exercise consists of positions/movements/breath control/concentration/relaxation that gives many physical and mental health benefits, that can help to improve physical and mental health and fitness condition, or talking about some kinds of 'energy channels/centres cleansing technique', or 'sound/vibration/mystical/mantra/energy healing' practice or 'energy exchange', or 'love sharing and hugging', or 'yogic diet', or 'clean eating', or 'organic living', or 'yogic lifestyle', or 'yogic attires and accessories', or 'yoga mats/blocks/straps/cushions/etc'.

When people visualize 'someone practicing yoga', most people would think of someone on a 'yoga mat' wearing certain brand of 'yoga attire' holding a particular 'yoga posture' or doing a set of yoga movements consist of different 'yoga postures' or 'stretches' with or without some yoga accessories such as block and strap, or doing some 'breathing exercises', 'chanting/praying/clapping/dancing/singing with music', or 'meditating in a cross-legged sitting posture holding a particular hand gesture' with incense burning or meditative music background in an out of the world beautiful and peaceful environment, or a group of people happily chatting, cooking and eating 'organic produce', or something to do with 'positive thinking/empowerment'/'relaxation and de-stress methods'/'healthy lifestyle'/'the sense of happiness or meaningfulness', or even, visualizing people with certain appearance such like 'tattooed body', 'dreadlocks' and 'smoking pot'. Just like what people see in the 'yoga videos'/'TV documentary on yoga or yogi'/'yoga posters/advertisements/arts', or in the 'yoga classes' in the 'yoga centres', or on the streets of certain famous 'cities of yoga' in India.

We often hear many 'yoga practitioners' say, "I didn't practice yoga for some time because life was too busy in the past few years/months/weeks/days and I didn't have enough space for the yoga practice. Now that I have more free time and free space, I want to start practicing yoga again." It shows that they have no idea what is yoga and yoga practice even though they might have been doing some 'yoga practice' either by themselves or attending 'yoga classes' for some time.

Yoga and yoga practice is unlimited by name and form, time, space and causation.

Then there are also many 'yoga competitions' that are about 'how good/well one performs some 'yoga postures' or 'yoga movements'. "This person performs the postures/movements better than the others, this person endowed with the strength/the flexibility/the techniques/the artistic/the creativity/the grace/the flow/the endurance/the focus/the effort, and so, this person is the best 'yogi' and the champion/winner of this 'yoga competition'." There are also many 'yoga events', 'yoga festivals', 'yoga shows/performances/demonstrations', or 'yoga international day', and etc.

All these 'names and forms' don't determined that one is practicing yoga, or one knows yoga, or one is a yogi. Those who truly practice yoga, or who know yoga, there's no such idea/identification of "I know yoga", "I practice yoga for how long for how regular", "I meditate for how many years for how many hours/times per day", "I can hold my breath for how long", "I am a yogi", "I am a yoga teacher", "I am a 200/500 hours certified yoga teacher", "I participate in such and such yoga events/festivals/courses/yoga competitions", "I am celebrating yoga international day", "I am a champion of yoga", "I am the best yogi", "This is how a yogi looks like", "Yoga is so good", or "I love yoga."

If someone thinks one knows something about yoga but doesn't really know what is yoga, and wants to approach a teacher asking to be learning and practicing yoga under this teacher, one must 'empty' thyself of what one thinks who/what one is, of what one thinks one had learned/practiced/experienced/known/achieved. Actually, just by 'emptying' thyself, or abandoning the 'self-identification with such and such quality of names and forms', one has already opened the 'door' of yoga, even without a teacher's guidance.

Without any intention, just do our best and allow the fruit of action to be what it is...

No need to have good intention to do good and not to do bad, although we do good and try not to do bad.

Without any intention to be sharing yoga with anyone, we are sharing yoga with someone.

Without any intention to perform action that will benefit somebody, somebody is benefited from our actions.

If the yoga school or yoga class will become bigger without any intention to make it any bigger than what it is, let it be.

If the yoga school or yoga class will become smaller without any intention to make it any smaller than what it is, let it be. 

If we are teaching yoga to many people without any intention to be teaching yoga to many people, let it be.

If we are teaching yoga to less people without any intention to be teaching yoga to less people, let it be.

If we will stop teaching yoga to anyone without any intention to stop teaching yoga to anyone, let it be.

Be free from greed, desire, longing, craving and aversion.

Be free from intention and attachment.

Without any intention, just do our best and allow the fruit of action to be what it is...

In the end, it's about - May all be free, be peaceful, be happy.

Om shanti.

Do our best for ourselves and the world, but without attachment towards our actions and the fruit of actions

When we start to connect with the reality that is beyond our own mind's beliefs, habits, imaginations and expectations, we won't want to waste any efforts or energy in debates, arguments, justifications, or criticism. We will only do our best for ourselves and the world, and appreciate the present moment now as it is, without expecting or try to change the reality to be something that we think it should be.

As the ego shrinks and melts away, who is there to feel being challenged or insulted by who and what? Who is there to agree or disagree with the reality? Who is there to feel disappointed, dissatisfied, angry, hurt, fear and worry?

All the thinking patterns, beliefs, habits, reactions, expectations of the mind are conditioned by ceaseless inputs or programming from the beginning of the forming of this body and mind.

We hold on to all these 'conditioned and egoistic-based thinking and beliefs' to be who we are, and we believe 'that' is who we are, with lots of different qualities that are impermanent, and not in our control at all. We are not able to see the Truth that lies beyond all the names and forms, and the function of the body and the mind, or life existence.

Buddha never mentioned anything about 'God' or 'the creator of the universe'.

It wasn't about whether he realized there was or wasn't a 'God'. He didn't need to talk about 'God'. He didn't need to justify about the Truth, nor needed to argue with anyone as all the minds are being conditioned by different thinking, beliefs, habits, behaviors or reactions.

If someone believes there is a 'God', let him be. If someone believes there is no 'God', let him be. It is their own freedom and choice what they want to believe or not. Why want to control or change others about how they should think and believe? Everyone needs to control their own mind, not controlled by somebody else, not even 'God'. Why? Because if 'God' can control everyone's mind, and 'God' is almighty, all loving and compassionate, then there shouldn't be evil minds or suffering minds exist in the world. Right?

Buddha didn't try to influence anyone with certain ideas or beliefs, nor tried to implant any ideas or beliefs in people's mind, nor tried to convert anyone's mind to abandon their old beliefs and to take up new beliefs, but allowed everyone to explore, and to find out the Truth by themselves. And the Truth is not a belief. It is reality of what things really are, as they are.

The teacher doesn't need to tell us 'This is the Truth', nor 'make sure' that everyone will believe in 'that Truth', but the teacher only shows us the way towards realization of the Truth. There is no need arguments, judgments, expectations, or criticism about anything.

The teacher cannot purify our mind for us. The teacher cannot control our mind for us. The enlightened teacher is of no use to anyone who refuses to purify the mind, to let go of the ego and the attachment towards impermanent qualities of names and forms.

Not even the one whom we believe as a great teacher, whom we have the opportunity to come in contact with in this lifetime, can take away the ignorance in us, nor can remove the egoism in us, nor can free us from suffering that derived from ignorance, attachment, egoism, impurities like anger, hatred, jealousy, pride, arrogance, disappointment, dissatisfaction, fear and worry.

Maybe someone can comfort us for a few moments by showing us loving kindness, but not everyone will appreciate loving kindness from anyone, nor will this loving kindness can remove the root cause of suffering or ignorance from us. The moment we are free from suffering is because we have let go of our ego in that moment, we stop resisting or rejecting the reality that we don't like and don't agree with. We start to allow the reality to be what it is, not necessarily the way that we think it should be, or the way that we like it to be. Just like going for a good massage session can give us some relief of physical and mental tension, but it doesn't stop us from continue generating tension into the body and mind due to attachment in everyday life.

No one can take away our ego for us, or else everyone is already free from egoism, and there's no more unhappiness, discrimination or hatred in the world, if one can remove the ego from another being. As there were great saints and sages in the past, and there are many great beings in the world who are wise and compassionate. If they can remove the root cause of suffering, or egoism, or ignorance from other people, they already did so.

And hence, there's no difference between a 'good' or 'bad' teacher. There's no difference between having a teacher or not. All the experiences or perceptions of impermanent names and forms, or the objects of the senses, they all are our Dharma teachers. But due to deep rooted ignorance, we just don't learn anything from all these teachers. Maybe or not, we might learn about letting go of the ego and attachment when we experience extreme suffering or disappointment. But sometimes even if we experience great suffering and disappointment, we still don't learn anything.

We think we need an enlightened or perfect human being to be our teacher, and expect this teacher will help us to be liberated from suffering. But, no one can liberate us from suffering. It is the result of our own self-realization about the Truth.

The teacher can be right beside us all the time, but it is still our own effort and determination to purify our mind, to control our mind, and to be free from ignorance, attachment, egoism and impurities.

It doesn't matter how much teachings coming from the teacher through actions and speech, or how much teachings we have read from many books, it still depends on our own effort, self-discipline and determination in letting go of attachment and the ego. Reading many thousands of books, and attending many yoga and meditation courses doesn't remove the egoism in us, in fact it might empowered our ego, pride and arrogance for being so knowledgeable and have read so many books. Neither being knowledgeable will free us from anger, hatred, jealousy, pride, arrogance, disappointment, dissatisfaction, hurts, fear and worry.

We can be very 'knowledgeable' and know about lots of things about this and that, by hearing, seeing, reading and experiencing, still it doesn't guarantee us peace and happiness. As knowing the Truth is different from knowing many things. We are constantly disturbed by our own egoism reacts towards what we experience through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. We attached strongly onto what our mind believes what things are and have agreements and disagreements, and generate strong aversion towards what our mind disagrees with, and thus, generate anger and hatred towards people, ideas, beliefs and things that our mind disagrees with. We are not peaceful, even though we are very knowledgeable, as we have strong attachment towards all these knowledge to be who we are.

It's because peace and compassion is not attained through all these activities, or experiences, or knowledge. A person can be illiterate, not knowing how to read and write, but still can develop insights through introspection, and it won't determine this person cannot be peaceful and compassionate. Being literate doesn't guarantee peace and compassion. If being literate can give us peace and compassion, then there won't be unhappiness and suffering in the people who can read and write.

It is non-attachment towards all these mind activities or perception of names and forms, and allowing the reality to be what it is, whether it is something very pleasant and agreeable to us, or it is something very unpleasant or disagreeable to us. We are not disturbed, nor determined by all the pleasant and unpleasant experiences. There's no craving or clinging onto the pleasant experiences. There's no aversion towards the unpleasant experiences. And allow everything to go through impermanent changes.

While living in the world as we are, we do our best in performing all our duties and responsibilities, appreciating everyone and everything that come in contact with us, without attachment towards all these relationships and things. Make good use of the knowledge that we have, without being determined by these knowledge to be who we are. Make good use of the good conditions that we have, our talents, physical and mental abilities to perform actions to benefit ourselves and the world, but without attachment towards all the actions and the fruit of actions. Being free, undetermined by all the impermanent qualities of names and forms.

Many people paid lots of money going here and there, attending many yoga classes, courses and retreats, but that doesn't guarantee them liberation, or peace. We can give the teachers some fees, it doesn't matter 'a little' or 'a lot', but the teacher cannot sell us 'the Truth', liberation, peace and happiness.

To have a yoga studio, or a centre, or a classroom, to be conducting or to run classes or courses, there will be some costs involved to maintain the place, and to run any courses or classes. There will be some fees or donations involved to support and to maintain a place that provides some convenient facilities for everyone to get together for a class or a course.

Yoga and meditation is not a business that we can buy or sell. But to organize a course to allow the teacher and the students to come together in a place with certain facilities cannot avoid some costing. To 'transport' a teacher from a place to another place to give courses, there will be some expenses involved. But the fees that we paid to attend any yoga courses doesn't buy us liberation, peace and happiness.

The Truth, peace and happiness is always here. It is the nature of everyone. No one can give us peace and happiness. No one can take away that peace and happiness from us. It cannot be destroyed or damaged. It never increase nor decrease. It doesn't have a beginning nor an end. It is beyond birth and death, existence and non-existence.

Some people don't mind paying money for buying the particular brand of bags, shoes, accessories and clothing that they like, paying for attending parties or social functions once every few days, enjoy eating and drinking, paying for dopes, paying for holidays once in a while, paying for buying the latest phone or camera, paying for furnitures in their home, paying for their higher education, but they reluctant to pay a yoga teacher certain amount of fees for attending yoga classes or courses to support the teacher's living and to maintain the yoga school, as they think yoga should be free to everyone, or should not be paying 'that much' to learn yoga, and no one should get profits out of teaching yoga practice to other people. They think yoga teachers should get a paid job, or beg for charity on the streets to support their living and to maintain the yoga school, and should not take money from teaching yoga classes for living.

Anyway, yoga and Dharma can be shared at anywhere and anytime. It's not necessarily has to be in a yoga school, or centre, or classroom that requires manpower and financial support and maintenance.

If we have strong self-discipline and determination, we don't need a yoga teacher and we don't need to attend yoga classes or courses at yoga school or yoga centre, to learn about yoga, or to be practicing yoga. As when the time is right, we will meet the teacher, and this teacher can be anything. If we think we need to have a teacher, then find the one and only greatest teacher who resides in us all the time. There's no 'fees' involved.

Here is something to be contemplating upon -
Those who have lots of money and strength are not necessarily rich and strong, neither should they be the one who gives, and don't receive anything. Those who have very little or no money and have no strength are not necessarily poor and weak, neither should they be the one who receives, and cannot give anything.

If we think and believe that the rich and strong people should be the one who gives, and receives nothing, and the poor and weak people should be the one who receives, and gives nothing.

Think again...

Om shanti.

Develop self yoga practice outside of yoga classes or yoga centres, beyond names and forms, time and space...

Real yoga practice starts in our own home, in our every moment living space. We should be able to develop self-practice at home, at work, at play, during holiday, being alone or being with somebody, when we are busy or when we are free, because yoga is not to be found only in yoga classes or yoga centres, but in our everyday living space, not separated from our everyday life experiences. Yoga practice is in our heart, in our living space, in our work place, in our playground, on the street, in the shopping malls, in the nature, in the world, wherever our awareness is, in this present moment...

Yoga practice is there when our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind come in contact with the objects of the senses, where the perception of names and forms and qualities begins, where judgment and comparison of good and bad begins, where craving and aversion towards what we like and dislike, agree and disagree, want and don't want begins, where impurities arising and passing away... Every moment purifying our mind, and letting go of the ego...

And yoga practice is not just limited in doing some yoga asana exercises... It's about dispassion, detachment, self-control and self-independence, which are found in our every moment of existence and awareness, unlimited by names and forms, time and space...

What stop us from having self asana practice at home, is self-discipline... It's not about limited space or having distractions from other people who live in the same house, or distractions from all sorts of comforts, enjoyments, interactions and inputs from TV, phones, Internet access, emails, facebook, neighbours and friends, and etc... Even in the tiny space in the kitchen or in the hallway can also be our practice ground... It is an excuse, if we say there is no space in our house for asana practice... If we are really determined, we can let go of the space for the TV or the couch, and make room for a space for our practice...

If everyday we can give ourselves a few moments to be away from Internet access (emailing or chatting or blogging or facebooking), not watching TV, not listening to radio or music, switch off the phone, not reading novels, magazines or newspapers, not talking, not socializing, not speculating or planning anything, not try to do something, just be in the present moment, whether sitting, or lying, or standing, or walking, observe our mind, our thoughts, observe our body and mind's reactions for being restricted, observe our natural breath, no need to perform any asana exercises, no need to have a specific space for any physical practice, letting go of what we think we cannot let go, letting go of all the identifications with what we think who we are, not try to be somebody, not try to be good or bad, not looking for peace and happiness, and those are the great moments of yoga practice...

There is nothing wrong with practicing yoga under a teacher's guidance and doing yoga practice under instructions in yoga classes provided by yoga centres and yoga schools... Especially for those who have no idea what is yoga and what are the practices...

If we think we cannot practice yoga at home, and need to be in a yoga class or yoga centre to practice "yoga", so that we can be temporary move away from our life and duties, so that we can do what we are told to do, depending or relying on the yoga teacher to give us instructions on what to do now and what to do next, then we still haven't connected with the real yoga practice yet, even though everyday, or a few times weekly or monthly we spend 1 or 2 hours in yoga classes in yoga centres, following the instructions of the yoga teacher, doing some "yoga practices"...

If we still need to depend or rely on yoga teachers to give us instructions to be practicing yoga, or rely on the teacher to tell us are we "good" or "not good", or depending on the space in a yoga studio to provide a suitable space for us to practice yoga, even though after years and years of going to yoga classes, then know that we are not getting any further than where we were from the start, even though physically and mentally we are getting some benefits from doing all the physical yoga exercises in the yoga classes, and our body and mind feels great after the yoga classes. We might be practicing yoga for many years but we are still not really peaceful, we are not free from being over-powered by low self-esteem, craving and aversion, anger and disappointment, fear and worries...

It's because we are still attached to the body and mind, still identifying with the body and mind looking for pleasant sensations and good feelings coming from the yoga exercises... There is nothing wrong with this idea of "in love with doing yoga exercises for getting good feelings and pleasant sensations", but know that this is also a form of attachment and craving... Once we don't get to do some yoga exercises, our body and mind feels bad and being agitated... We should learn to go beyond attachment towards the momentary conditional pleasantness coming from doing yoga exercises.

Anyone, after going for some yoga classes learning from yoga teachers, we should be able to develop self-practice already. It is about developing inner observation, self-awareness, self-discipline and non-attachment...

If after many years of learning and practicing "yoga" in yoga classes or yoga centres, and still cannot have self-practice without being in yoga classes or yoga studios, without getting instructions from yoga teachers, then obviously we didn't learn anything at all in those years of "learning" and "practicing" yoga...

No doubts that even there are many yoga teachers still have to go to other people's classes, continue in attending courses after courses, upgrading and improving themselves in all aspects, because we are not "free" yet, we are still learning and being humble, and want to improve in our own practice and our teaching skill... This is nothing wrong... But no matter how many classes and courses that we have attended, it all comes back to our own self-practice and self-realization that derived from self-discipline, self-control and self-awareness that will free us from ignorance, the cause of restlessness and unpeacefulness and be free...

Only in those who are already free, all actions ceased... There's no "teaching", no "learning", no "practicing", even though the actions of teaching, learning and practicing are there... There's no more differences or separateness between actions and inactions...

If there is no "pain", do we still need to do something to remove "pain"?

If our sense of well-being or self-worth or confidence or happiness is coming from how successful we can perform the asana poses that we couldn't perform before, or how many yoga asana poses that we can perform, or how good we look and feel while performing the asana poses, or how good we look and feel after performing the asana poses, or how much we are benefited from the asana poses physically, mentally and emotionally, then we are still a great distance away from our true Self... It indicates that we are identified with the body and mind, and is identified as the doer and the enjoyer of the actions and inactions generated by the body and mind...

We are not the body, we are not the mind. The body is not us, the mind is not us. The thinking, the sensations, the feelings are not us. We are not the thinking, the sensations, the feelings...

We are neither the doer nor the enjoyer of all the actions and inactions... There is neither gain nor loss...

Om shanti.