Renounce worldly passionate egoistic thinking and behavior

The teachings and practice of yoga and buddhism are for the minds that are interested to learn and practice and realize the universal teachings or dhamma of yoga and/or buddhism through direct self-realization via purifying and quieting the restless egoistic impure modification of the mind.

The minds that are not interested in learning, or practicing, or realizing yoga and/or buddhism, they don't need to practice yoga or buddhism, not to say, to practice yoga or buddhism as it is.

The core of the teachings and practice of yoga and/or buddhism is about activating the mind purification process to be modifying/changing the limited and conditional passionate egoistic impure restless mind thinking and behavior pattern, a.k.a. engaging in the mind quieting process to be free from the influence of the veil of ignorance a.k.a. the idea of 'I', or the ego, or the conscious/semi-conscious self acknowledgement and the sense of separateness, egoism, impurities, and restlessness, effectively and practically, by renouncing, or letting go, or moving away from the worldly passionate egoistic minds, ties and connections, relationships, affairs, activities, interactions, habits, or the passionate egoistic way of living, thinking, and behavior.

What is normal way of thinking, meaningful way of living, and appropriate behavior for the passionate egoistic minds, is exactly what needed to be renounced or letting go in the teachings and practice of yoga and/or buddhism.

There are different worldly egoistic cultures (different ways of living, thinking, belief and disbelief, evaluation, desire and don't desire, practice, and behavior), while regardless of from the one same cultural background or from the different cultural backgrounds, all and everyone have the freedom of their own particular way of living, thinking, belief and disbelief, evaluation, desire and don't desire, practice, and behavior.

Meanwhile, all kinds of different cultures have some similar common egoistic ideas, values, and practice that they all share in common, that is exactly what needed to be renounced or letting go during the mind purification and quieting process. Or else, even after years and years of practicing yoga and/or buddhism, the mind is still being conditioned by the worldly passionate egoistic mind thinking and behavior pattern to think, to evaluate, to desire, to act and react, or to live life and behave in certain way or not in certain way. The mind is still being restless swaying in between satisfaction and dissatisfaction, elevation and depression, meaningfulness and meaninglessness, happiness and unhappiness, joyfulness and joylessness, togetherness and separateness/loneliness/missingness, goodness and badness, pleased and displeased, enjoyment and suffering, and etc. Even so, there is neither good nor bad, neither right nor wrong about that.

For the minds that sincerely want to practice and realize yoga or buddhism as it is, then they can contemplate upon this, if they want. 

The commonly shared among the different worldly passionate egoistic ideas, beliefs, values, practices, inspirations, aspirations, desires, visions, or ways of living, thinking, and behavior is about -

- "We all need to have family and friends, and we all need to have our particular community mental and emotional support."

or, "Aloneness, being by oneself, living by oneself, eating by oneself, enjoying life by oneself, navigating life existence in the world of impermanence and uncertainty by oneself, dealing with all kinds of challenging condition and situation by oneself, and performing beneficial action to be looking after the well-being of oneself and others and the surrounding environment, without family and friends or community mental and emotional support and interaction, is lonely and unhealthy, is bad and wrong, and is joyless and meaningless."

There is nothing wrong with having the companionship of family and friends or community mingling and interaction and support, but for the minds that want to practice and realize yoga or buddhism, it is about - "We can have family and friends or engaging in community activity and interaction to be giving and receiving mental and emotional support among one another, but we don't need to must have family and friends, or engaging in community activity and interaction to attain mental and emotional support among one another. It is absolutely okay and there is nothing bad, or wrong, or meaningless, or joyless, or unhealthy, if we are being alone and living alone by ourselves without being surrounded by family and friends or without mingling and interacting with any particular community.

Mental and emotional independence is one of the essential criteria and precious element to be developed and empowered in yoga and/or buddhism. All kinds of worldly passionate egoistic cultural/spiritual/religious/political/commercial/national/communal ideas, beliefs, values, and practices are all about developing and empowering mental and emotional dependence, that is a huge hindrance towards attaining direct self realization towards the truth of names and forms - Selflessness, Impermanence, Limitation, Conditional, and Non-self, that is crucial for promoting and maintaining world peace and harmony among the countless diversities in the world of diverse names and forms that doesn't belong to anyone or anything."

- "As human beings, we should behave like this and we shouldn't behave like that."

Which also being brought into the path of yoga and/or buddhism - "As a yogi or a buddhist, we should behave like this and we shouldn't behave like that."

There is nothing wrong with we ourselves want to be behaving in the way that we think and believe as 'good and appropriate', and don't want to be behaving in the way that we think and believe as 'bad and inappropriate' in accordance to our own particular cultural belief, values, and practice, but for the minds that want to practice and realize yoga or buddhism, it is about - "Our own particular cultural belief, values, and practice is only limited to ourselves. Others have their own freedom of their own particular cultural belief, values, and practice. What we think and believe and how we want to behave is our own freedom of thinking, belief, and behavior. What others think and believe and how others want to behave is their own freedom of thinking, belief, and behavior, including our particular immediate family members, parents, siblings, children, relatives, friends, and particular community, not to say all the others that are not our immediate family members, parents, siblings, children, relatives, friends, and particular community. Even the minds that are practicing yoga and/or buddhism, they are not necessarily practicing yoga and/or buddhism as it is, and they have the freedom for what they want or don't want to practice, and how they want to practice."

- "Life like this is joyful and meaningful, and life like that is joyless and meaningless."

There is nothing wrong that we have our own interpretation towards what is meaningful and meaningless, and what is joyful or joyless, but for the minds that want to practice and realize yoga or buddhism, it is about - "Our own interpretation towards what is meaningful and meaningless or joyful and joyless, is only limited to ourselves. All the others, including our family members, parents, siblings, children, friends, relatives, our particular community, and the many other diverse individuals and communities, they all have their own interpretation towards what is meaningful and meaningless, that can be completely different from one another."

Apply this inquiry towards all and everything about ourselves and all the others that are different from us.

The minds that have this understanding, will not be disturbed or offended by the other yoga and buddhism practitioners being what they are, not to say, all the others (non-yoga and buddhism practitioners) that have their own particular worldly egoistic cultural belief, values, and practice that influences their own particular way of living, thinking, belief and disbelief, reasoning and evaluation, desire and don't desire, practice, and behavior, while respecting all and everyone as they are.

If there is intense disagreement or discomfort towards some others' cultural belief, values, and practice or way of living, thinking, and behavior, then one can distance oneself away from such minds, environment, condition, and situation, to minimize coming in contact with anyone and anything that oneself strongly dislikes and disagrees with, as much as possible, while not expecting or bullying the others to change their cultural belief, values, and practice or way of living, thinking, and behavior, that oneself doesn't like and doesn't agree with, or expecting the others to go somewhere else to move away from oneself.

There is a room full of many different people. One person that doesn't like some others or all the others can leave the room, and everyone will have peace. But out of ignorance and possessiveness, this person expects the others that oneself doesn't like to leave the room - "I have the rights and freedom to be here, all these people that I don't like shouldn't be here."

Meanwhile, under certain passionate egoistic cultural practice, the one that wish to leave the room and let all the others to be what they are and have peace, would be stopped by the minds that are being conditioned by the cultural practice about, "No. You cannot leave the room. It is rude and inappropriate to leave the room. You need to stay here and interacting with all the others even if you don't like all the others, and you need to behave yourself as a well brought-up good and civilized human being (which means being a hypocrite that tell all kinds of lies to please all the others)."

So many minds are developing certain degrees of mental illness/blockage because of being conditioned and limited by such cultural practice from young, where it affects their relationship with all and everyone, and many of them who have became parents themselves also conditioning and limiting their own children in such way, to be well-trained professional hypocrite that please all and everyone, while being told that they should either keep all the dissatisfaction, complaints, and unhappiness suppressing within, or there is nothing wrong to be doing and saying everything bad behind people's back (back-stabbing their parents, their siblings, their children, their spouse, their friends, their colleagues, or the members of their particular community, behind their back, while being super nice and loving and hugging and saying all kinds of nice things towards one another all the time in front of them.)

That is not what kindness, compassion, accommodation, acceptance, and respect is about. Real kindness, compassion, accommodation, acceptance, and respect is free from any kind of ill will or resentment towards anyone or anything.

Hypocrisy is merely a hurtful values and practice and behavior that hurt oneself and others. It is indeed a form of hidden abusive behavior that begins in oneself that might grow into the surrounding environment that hurt all and everyone and the surrounding environment, where the accumulated intense disagreement, dissatisfaction, frustration, unhappiness, anger, and resentment towards someone or something are being directed to all the others and objects that are innocent, that are nothing to do with the accumulated intense disagreement, dissatisfaction, frustration, unhappiness, anger, and resentment towards someone or something.

All and everyone have the freedom to be what they are and where they are. All the others have the freedom to be what they are and where they are. We ourselves also have the freedom to be what we are and where we are, but we all need to know and understand that we all are co-existing and sharing the space that doesn't belong to anyone or anything with the many diversities, where there are many things or affairs are not necessarily pleasant, desirable, or agreeable. The infinite space in anywhere and everywhere doesn't belong to 'I', or 'my family', or 'my community', or 'my country', or 'my ancestors', or 'my spirituality/religion', or 'my almighty creator and authority and judge of the universe', or anyone and anything.

It has to come from ourselves to accommodate and respect towards all kinds of diversities that are co-existing in this space and sharing this space, under the presence of correct understanding, without any ill will, frustration, resentment, or bitterness. If we can't accommodate or tolerate this or that, we are the ones that can leave and go somewhere else, and let all the others to have peace and freedom being what they are and where they are.

The minds that don't have this understanding, will easily be disturbed or offended by all the others that have their own particular cultural belief, values, and practice that influences their own particular way of living, thinking, belief and disbelief, reasoning and evaluation, desire and don't desire, practice, and behavior. They expect and insist all the others to also think and behave like themselves. They want to interfere with and change the others either by temptation, reward, conversion, and manipulation, or by force, threat, intimidation, bullying, oppression, suppression, restriction, and/or painful disciplinary and punishment, if not, they want to chase away and eliminate anyone that are different from them. They gather power of control and bullying by encouraging and empowering financial and mental and emotional dependence among their own particular family, siblings, friends, relatives, or community in order to achieve their aspiration, vision, and ambition of to be possessing the power of control towards everyone to think and behave and desire in certain way and not in certain way, to gratify all their desires of what they want and don't want, as well as to be coveting and hoarding unlimited wealth and possessions and enjoyments, or land and space and natural resources that doesn't belong to anyone or anything.

And hence, the highly importance of the observation of dispassion and renunciation, solitude and seclusion, and silence (Mauna), in the path of yoga and/or buddhism, to move the body and mind away from continuously being conditioned and influenced by such worldly passionate egoistic selfish, possessive, prideful, and hurtful ideas, beliefs, values, and practices, while respecting and non-interference towards all the others to be what they are, as they are.

As long as the mind still has the conscious and semi-conscious attachment and identification towards "This is 'I', this is who and what I am, I am this and I am not that, and this is my body, my mind, my ideas/thoughts/thinking, my feelings and emotions, my knowledge, my experience, my qualification, my identity, my self-esteem and self-worth, my confidence, my family, my friends, my relatives, my father, my mother, my siblings, my husband, my wife, my children, my community, my tribe, my village, my birth place, my origin, my country, my nationality, my belief, my culture, my spirituality, my religion, my land, my space, my rights, my deserving privilege, my pride, my belongings, my achievements, my lineage, my teacher, my guru, my yoga, my buddhism, my practice, my fruit of practice, my action, my fruit of action, my peace, my happiness, my realization, my liberation, my freedom, and so on," the mind is not free.

The mind that realized the truth of Selflessness, Impermanence, Limitation, Conditional, and Non-self will understand that -

The idea of 'I' and 'my' or 'mine', is mere ignorance.

The body and mind doesn't even belong to the body and mind itself, or to one another. The body and mind cannot exist or function as what they are, if without energy and all kinds of elements come together selflessly and ego-lessly that enabling the body and mind to be existing and functioning as what they are.

The parents might give birth to the children, but the children don't belong to the parents, and vice versa. Even though the children don't belong to the parents, but the parents are the ones that are responsible for giving birth to the children and have the responsibility, kindness, and generosity of looking after the children until they become independent. Even though the parents don't belong to the children, but the children can be looking after the well-being of the aging parents out of kindness and generosity.

The fruits, the flowers, the leaves, or the structure of the tree don't belong to themselves or one another.

The same as all and everything don't belong to themselves, or anyone, or anything.

Even though all and everything don't belong to anyone or anything, but all and everyone and everything are inevitably inter-supporting and inter-influencing the existence and function of all and everyone and everything, directly and indirectly.

One doesn't need to be acknowledging and identifying as, "I am the citizen of this country. This is my country. This country belongs to me and I belong to this country. This is where I belong. And hence, I have the duty and responsibility to look after the well-being of this country," in order to be performing action to be looking after the well-being of oneself, others, all and everyone, and the surrounding environment (the world of many diversity) that doesn't belong to anyone or anything, while not hurting oneself, others, all and everyone, and the surrounding environment, out of kindness and generosity, out of correct understanding, and out of one's own freewill and initiation.

There is nothing belong to anyone or anything. The existence/function/mechanism/state of mind doesn't even belong to the mind itself, what is there that is belonging to who or what? All and everything are selfless, impermanent, limited, conditional, and non-self. None or nothing can exist as what they are if without all the other names and forms are existing to be inter-supporting and inter-influencing one another selflessly and ego-lessly to be manifesting/existing/changing/decaying/disintegrating/ceased existing as they are. None and nothing belong to anyone or anything.

There is neither good nor bad, neither right nor wrong if the mind is not free. 

However, the mind that is not free might be keep hurting oneself and/or others and the surrounding environment ceaselessly, either wittingly or unwittingly, out of ignorance, under the presence and influence of the idea of 'I' and everything that belong to 'I' (a.k.a. possessiveness and hoarding, or greed and discontentment, or fear, or the urge to control all and everything to be or not to be in certain way, and the sense of belonging, pride, and self-righteousness), impurities, and restlessness.

Inquire the truth of everything.

Inquire towards pride that doesn't need to be there at all

There are many things that are being believed, recognized, evaluated, and practiced in the world as something good or something bad, are not necessarily the truth of what things are. There are something that the minds think and believe and evaluate as 'good and righteous', or 'the right and important things to do and promote', might be harming towards all and everyone and everything and the surrounding environment directly or indirectly, such as the sense of pride, a sentimental idea/feeling/identification/quality/name and form in the form of thinking/thought, that is selfless, impermanent, limited, conditional, and non-self.

There is no sense of pride in babies not until they are being influenced and encouraged by the surrounding egoistic minds to pick up, learn, develop, project, as well as being limited and conditioned (ruined) by the sense of pride that doesn't need to be there at all, to grow as they are, to live life as it is, to keep learning and improving, and to become physically, mentally, and emotionally matured or independent as well as responsible human beings that perform actions, duties, and responsibilities for looking after oneself and others and the surrounding environment.

Just as the idea of 'I' or the ego, the sense of pride is something that manifests in the mind in the form of thinking/thought process under the presence of consciousness upon the state of consciousness, that is being planted and encouraged in the mind as 'the good and righteous and important thing/value/quality/sentiment/motivation to be developed and empowered and holding onto, by the surrounding minds that are functioning under the influence of the veil of ignorance, the idea of 'I', egoism, impurities, and restlessness, in order to feel good and meaningful, or accomplished and superior or powerful about themselves and life existence, in the midst of dealing with many things that they don't understand, that they perceived/understood/recognized as painful, fearful, intimidation, or suffering due to the inevitable presence of unknown or uncertainty or limitation, as well as dealing with the selfless impermanent limited and conditional changes in all and everything that are mostly unpleasant, undesirable, disagreeable, and non-enjoyable, that the minds don't like and don't want.

The sun, the moon, the earth, the oxygen, the water, the plants, the energy, the cells, the organs, the senses, the nerves, the blood and blood vessels, the hormones, the glands, the bones, the muscles, the tendons, the ligaments, the joints, the connective tissues, the membranes, the skin, the hair, and all and everything in this world of selfless names and forms don't need pride to be existing and functioning as what they are.

It is only the egoistic minds (the thinking and acting faculty of the brains) functioning under the influence of the veil of ignorance, would think and believe that it is highly essential and healthy, or good and righteous to develop and empower the sense of pride, to take pride in oneself and everything that is 'pride deserving'.

Regardless of eastern or western countries/regions, since the beginning of the conscious mind cognition formation and operation process in the mother's womb before birth and especially in the continuous development and growing process after birth, many minds are being developed and growing up being influenced and conditioned by everyone and all kinds of inputs from everywhere (parents, care takers, siblings, relatives, friends, teachers, classmates, schoolmates, community, public media, commercial advertisements, work place, private and public organization, and etc) about, "You need to develop and empower the sense of pride by taking pride in yourself and your identity of who you are and what you are and where you came from, as well as in what you do and achieve, or in your actions and the fruit of your actions."

"Be proud of yourself, your origin, your roots, your birth place, your family, your parents, your ancestors, your siblings, your community, your tribe, your ethnicity, your people, your school, your classmates and schoolmates, your academic and sports achievement, your job, your colleagues and friends, your career achievement, your spouse, your children, your culture, your belief and values, your spirituality, your religion, your nationality, your country, your passion, your vision, your aspiration, your ability, your strength, your talent, your skill, your uniqueness, your authenticity, your look and appearance, your ideas and creativity, your generosity, your goodwill, your contribution, your hard work, your outstanding performance, your success, your social status, your financial status, and your wealth and possession."

"You need to become the 'good/righteous/successful/accomplished/virtuous/respectable/recognized/deserving' person that you yourself will be proud of, and to also make all and everyone be proud of you, especially your parents, your family, your siblings, your children, your friends, your relatives, your neighbourhood, your community, your classmates/schoolmates/teachers/colleagues/bosses/employers/employees, your leaders/followers, your country, and maybe the entire world of all the others that don't have any personal connection or relationship with you."

"Do and achieve something that is pride, acknowledgement, recognition, praise, and respect deserving from yourself and from others. Take pride in doing and achieving and possessing something good and righteous and virtuous, and take shame in doing and achieving and possessing something bad and wrongful and sinful. Without pride, or without anything about yourself that you and others can be proud of, you are nobody and worthless, because it shows that you are a failure and your life is meaningless, and you should be ashamed of yourself for not being able to do and achieve and possess something that can make yourself and others to be proud of."

And even, some people take pride in themselves for being selfish, nasty, cruel, aggressive, violent, possessive, control freak, and hurtful, while also encouraging and empowering their own children, friends, and community to be the same.

Nope. None need to develop and be empowered to have pride in oneself, or to be proud of oneself for something or anything at all, not to say, to make some others to be proud of oneself for something that everyone think and believe as 'pride deserving', in order to motivate oneself to be 'good' and do 'good' and become 'successful' and live life 'meaningfully', to perform all one's duties and responsibilities of looking after oneself and others and the surrounding environment unconditionally and indiscriminately, or to refrain oneself from be 'bad' and do 'bad' and become a 'failure' and live life 'meaninglessly'.

The presence of pride, or the development and empowerment of the sense of pride/deserving/worthiness/satisfaction/self-esteem/self-worth/confidence/success/superiority/meaningfulness/powerfulness, with the initial 'good' intention to motivate the minds/the children/the youngsters/the adolescence/the students/the adults/the workers/the community to be 'good and righteous and successful', and to avoid being 'bad and wrongful and failure', regardless of being proud of something that the mind thinks, believes, and recognizes as the quality of good or bad, positive or negative, right or wrong, success or failure, deserving or non-deserving, worthy or worthless, prideful or shameful, meaningful or meaningless, and so on, is merely the by-product of ignorance and egoism, that lead to unnecessary mental blockage and illness, that gives rise to many kinds of detrimental side-effects or destructive behaviors that hurt oneself and others and the surrounding environment, directly and indirectly, wittingly and unwittingly.

Even many of the highly intelligent, educated, knowledgeable, talented, skillful, inspired, aspiring, ambitious, or highly 'successful' and 'accomplished' minds, that have the possibility and opportunity to be holding certain influential powerful and impactful position, such as political negotiation, money talking, business influencing, policy making, law making, mental health advocating, social media influencing, decision making, and action taking that are impacting and affecting all and everyone and everything and the surrounding environment in the world, are also being conditioned and motivated by such common egoistic idea, thinking, belief, values, practice, inspiration, and aspiration about the presence, development, empowerment, possession, and clinging towards the sense of pride, that is being seen as a 'good and righteous and highly essential and important thing' to have and to be encouraged and empowered in the minds of the human beings.

If the minds haven't been being conditioned and empowered in such way, the world won't be what it is now, full of all kinds of evitable ongoing hurtful destructive activities and affairs that hurt oneself and others and the surrounding environment in the pursue of attaining and keep attaining higher and higher fleeting sense of pride/deserving/worthiness/satisfaction/self-esteem/self-worth/confidence/success/superiority/meaningfulness/powerfulness, that might benefit and uplift oneself and one's particular community for a very momentary short duration, but that will hurt and impact all and everyone and everything and the surrounding environment for a prolonged duration, directly and indirectly, including oneself and one's particular community.

All and everyone and everything will be affected and impacted upon the collapse of the Eco system, or the climate, or the livable atmosphere and condition, and/or the survival or livelihood of many people that depends mostly on the local and global economy that inter-affecting one another as well as among the many different types of businesses and jobs or industrialized productivity, directly and indirectly, that is heavily depending on the ceaseless excessive exploitation, manipulation, and destruction towards all and everything and the surrounding environment, in order to generate higher and higher income, or profit, or success, or enjoyment, of ceaseless accumulation and hoarding limitless wealth and boundless possessions and pleasurable enjoyments, in order to sustain and boost their fleeting sense of pride. No matter how much money, or wealth, or power, or success, or possessions, or enjoyments, or pride that anyone have, is not going to save them from the consequences of such ignorance and endless greed.

Even so, that is nothing to do with 'karma', or 'bad karma', or 'sins'. It is merely ignorance and the consequences of ignorance.

The world doesn't need to be like this, but it is what it is, full of all kinds of ignorance and consequences of ignorance, in everywhere.

It's everyone's freedom to be what they are, as they are, even if all and everyone are being ignorant and ambitious and prideful, or restlessly chasing after and boosting the sense of pride, a.k.a. the sense of self-esteem and self-worth, or confidence, or satisfaction, or accomplishment, or success, or superiority, or meaningfulness, or powerfulness, that are wittingly and unwittingly exploiting, manipulating, and hurting all and everyone and everything and the surrounding environment, directly and indirectly, in the pursue of possessing, developing, empowering, and clinging onto the sense of pride coming from the gratification of endless and boundless greedy desires, aspirations, visions, and ambitions of achieving 'the desirable and enjoyable joyful and meaningful life in a world that one desires'.

It is understandable that why most minds have intense fear towards letting go the sense of pride, or letting go the pursue of possessing and empowering as well as sustaining the fleeting sense of pride, because they were being told/taught/educated/conditioned/influenced from young that "Pride and Shame towards oneself and everything about oneself as well as towards all the others, is the most important thing, quality, sentiment, or value about life existence that everyone need to attain/possess/have/empower (what is pride deserving) or to avoid/eliminate/destroy/punish (what is shame deserving)."

Whenever someone manages to do or achieve something, there is the 'natural and ethical' response or reaction, or practice and obligation of the others to be cheering and giving encouragement, support, acknowledgement, recognition, and appreciation of, "Yeah! Keep it up!", "Well done!", "I am so proud of you!", "We are so proud of you!", "You must be so proud of yourself!", "You are so deserving!", or "You are so amazing!", as well as, "You are unlimited! You should go further and further, and you can achieve higher and higher", that is nothing but empowering the ego and the egoism as well as greed in most minds that are not mentally and emotionally independent, that also hinders the development towards mental and emotional maturity or independence.

All these so called 'positive encouragements' are being seen as something 'good', 'positive', 'healthy', and 'essential' for the minds that are functioning under the influence of the veil of ignorance, but not knowing or unaware of the destructive side-effects of that, empowering egoism and ignorance in oneself and in others.

Once there is absence of such pleasing, or uplifting, or promotive response or reaction from any others at all or from time to time, these minds will be demotivated and depressed, and feel inferior, weak, useless, shameful, undeserving, failure, unnoticed, unloved, unsupported, left-out, and meaningless. The minds are being conditioned or inspired to be highly ambitious to do and achieve something or everything that deserves pride and respect from oneself and from others, as well as to never be contented, that one must continuously be highly ambitious to keep doing something 'great' to keep achieving more and more and higher and higher success, power, wealth, and enjoyments, endlessly, until there is nothing left to be exploited in this world that doesn't belong to anyone or anything.

Just as many minds have intense anxiety or fear towards the unknown and rejection towards 'Simplicity', or have fear towards letting go whatever they have been told to believe, uphold, aspire, practice, and pursue since young, or reluctant to let go certain kinds of limited and conditional privilege, convenience, comfort, and enjoyment that they have, that are more or less deriving from continuous ongoing excessive exploitation and destruction towards the over-all well-being of all and everyone and everything and the surrounding environment, that can be avoided, that is unnecessary, that is nothing to do with 'basic survival', 'sufficiency', 'good quality of living', and 'true happiness'.

The minds that have already developed or endowed with mental and emotional maturity or independence, they don't need to have pride in oneself for anything, not to say, to be receiving such egoistic pleasing, or uplifting, or promotive response or reaction from oneself or others to motivate them to continuously perform actions to look after and benefit oneself and others and the surrounding environment, or to keep learning and improving, or to feel appreciated, approved, acknowledged, recognized, loved, supported, or good and meaningful about themselves and life existence, and they are free from greed or endless ambition (craving) to achieve ceaseless higher and higher success in many things in order to be continuously receiving love, attention, support, encouragement, acknowledgement, recognition, approval, praise and compliments, and appreciation from oneself and all the others.

At the same time, they allow all these worldly egoistic practice, values, ethics, response, or reaction of all and everyone in the surrounding environment to be there, or not, but they are not being determined, or disturbed, or influenced, or limited, or conditioned, or promoted and demoted, by the presence or absence of all those egoistic names and forms, ideas, values, practice, or activities, that are meant to be either uplifting/complimenting/encouraging or hammering/criticizing/discouraging, but it is not necessarily beneficial but even harmful to all and everyone and everything and the surrounding environment that doesn't belong to anyone or anything.

The minds that are devoid of the sense of pride, that are mentally and emotionally matured or independent, they are free from the common hurtful destructive possessiveness and sense of belonging, offensiveness and defensiveness, or anger and hatred that exist in the prideful minds that are functioning under the influence of the veil of ignorance, upon coming in contact with something that is unpleasant, undesirable, disagreeable, or non-enjoyable and even painful, internally or externally.

The sense of pride co-existing with the sense of shame. They are the two sides of a coin.

The minds that understand this, they will know that, "Do things that will make you happy," or "Take pride in yourself and everything about yourself that is worthy and pride deserving," is only a momentary soothing effect, but it is not the solution to all kinds of unhappiness, or the disturbed dissatisfied painful suffering state of mind, and instead, it is empowering egoism and ignorance, which is the root cause of all kinds of unhappiness or the disturbed dissatisfied painful suffering state of mind as well as hurtful behaviors.

It has to come from the conscious awareness, conscious understanding, conscious freewill or choice making, conscious initiation, and conscious effort or action taking, of the mind itself, to be free from the sense of pride and shame that doesn't need to be existing at all.

The mind will realize the truth of all those conditional worldly egoistic ideas, thinking, beliefs, values, practices, inspirations, aspirations, visions, or endless and boundless ambitions, upon letting go the sense of pride or the need of possessing/developing/empowering/sustaining the sense of pride, or superiority, or success, or powerfulness, that exist in order to avoid or over-come the sense of shame, or inferiority, or failure, or vulnerability, where the sense of pride and shame, superiority and inferiority, success and failure, powerfulness and powerlessness (weakness/vulnerability/limitation/disability/failure/non-accomplishment/insecurity/fear), as well as goodness and badness, positiveness and negativeness, rightfulness and wrongfulness, meaningfulness and meaninglessness, deserving and undeserving, and so on, don't need to be existing in the mind at all.

There will be unconditional peace in oneself.

One will stop hurting oneself and others and the surrounding environment.

Inquire the truth of everything.

Inquire towards the different paths of yoga

There are four major paths of yoga as well as their many branches of different lineages to suit the many different individual minds that have different physical and mental abilities, limitations, and conditions, having different personalities and characteristics, being conditioned by the many different genetic biological inheritances, ways of thinking, ways of living, ideas, beliefs, values, practices, visions, inspirations, and aspirations, of different conditional mind thinking behavior patterns, as well as coming in contact with different surrounding environment, growing and learning process, parental inputs, family inputs, community inputs, educational inputs, public social media inputs, commercial inputs, political inputs, financial inputs, non-scientific creative fictional stories, fairy tales, superstitions, myths, novels, television programs, and movies inputs, and undergoing different types of suppression and empowerment, conditions, situations, affairs, experiences, activities, or interactive relationships and friendships with some others, that influence their state of mind and behavior in certain way and not in certain way.

It is also normal and nothing wrong that the same path or the same teachings and practice are being interpreted or understood differently not only by the different minds under different degrees of clarity and different reasoning power that is being conditioned by the many different sets of ideas, beliefs, values, visions, inspirations, aspirations, or different mind thinking behavior patterns, but also by the same mind that is being conditioned by particular set of ideas, beliefs, values, inspirations, aspirations, or particular mind thinking behavior pattern, under the different degrees of clarity in different stages throughout the conscious process of purifying and sharpening the cognitive intellectual reasoning faculty and quieting the restless egoistic impure modification of the mind consciously, under the presence of the limited and conditional conscious awareness, conscious freewill, conscious initiation, and conscious effort.

More importantly, the different degrees or layers of understanding towards the same teachings or the universal dhamma, will keep evolving towards greater/deeper/clearer understanding under greater degrees of clarity throughout the persistent prolonged process of thinning-out the veil of ignorance by consciously starving the idea of 'I', egoism, impurities, and restlessness, until absolute understanding appear as it is under the presence of absolute clarity, or stillness, or silence, upon the complete annihilation of the veil of ignorance.

At certain points, the mind might be confused and puzzled and demotivated by the different teachings from different paths and different lineages, or by the different interpretations of the similar teachings that appeared to be contradicting against one another, as well as by its own different realization and understanding throughout the different stages. But as the mind develops greater degrees of clarity and sharper/purer intellectual reasoning power, the mind will start to see the one common non-distinctive existence/function/meaning/purpose/reason in the existence of all the different teachings and all the different interpretations of the similar teachings that appeared to be distinctive from one another. There is no more contradiction, or confusion, or doubt existing in the mind that sees things as they are, under the state of clarity.

In the path of devotion (Bhakti Yoga), "Focusing on 'God', by performing daily rituals/chanting/reciting japa and mantra/prayers to praise and worship 'God', to only think about 'God', and oneself will be looking after by 'God' naturally." - Surrender to 'God'

In the path of action (Karma Yoga), "Focusing on the well-being of others or the world of many diversities that doesn't belong to anyone or anything, by performing action to serve others or serve the world (if disbelieve in 'God') where all and everyone and everything are inter-supporting, inter-influencing, and inter-affecting one another, directly or indirectly, or to serve 'God' (if believe in 'God') where the mind sees 'God' in all and everything, where serving all and everyone means serving 'God' in all forms, and channel the entire life existence to be giving, supporting, and benefiting others and the surrounding environment, and oneself will be looking after by nature or the universe, naturally." - Surrendering the ego and egoism

In the path of mind conquest or self discipline (Raja Yoga), "Focusing on oneself, by attending and perfecting one's daily yoga practice of asana, pranayama, yama, niyama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi, by channeling the outgoing tendency to be focusing within to render and conquer one's own modification of the mind, to empty Thyself (clearing out all kinds of mental and emotional rubbish/blockage), to look after the over-all well-being of oneself and perform one's duty and responsibility towards oneself devoid of egoism of grasping, attachment, identification, craving, aversion, comparison, judgment, intention, desire, or expectation, in solitude and seclusion, in silence, and the universal truth/dhamma or the unconditional peace will be revealing to oneself eventually and effortlessly." - Looking after the over-all well-being of oneself is the highest duty of mankind, as looking after oneself is indeed looking after all the others, where peace in the surrounding environment, or in the world (in the relationship, in the family, in the neighbourhood, in the particular community, among the diverse communities, among the diverse Eco-systems, in anywhere and everywhere) begins from peace in oneself, where oneself is kind to (doesn't harm) oneself, or others, or the surrounding environment under the presence of peace under the absence of restlessness

In the path of wisdom and right discrimination (Jnana Yoga), or science, "Focusing on attaining or knowing the absolute truth of everything via self-effort and self-realization, through self-investigation, self-introspection, right discrimination, and self-inquiry, by contemplating and reflecting towards the truth/nature of everything via uncontaminated intellectual reasoning power, under the state of absolute clarity, under the absence of the veil of ignorance (A selfless flawless motionless intentionless non-discriminative mirror that reflects the image of everything in front of it, as it is) - Seeing the universal truth/dhamma of Selflessness, Impermanence, Limitation, Conditional, and Non-self in all kinds of names and forms including living organisms and non-living objects (the subject and the object, the perceiver and the perceived, the thinker and the thinking, the observer and the object of observation, the awareness and the object of awareness, the nature's law of cause and effect, the suffering and the cause of suffering, the ignorance and the cause of ignorance, the good and the bad, the right and the wrong, the pleasurable enjoyment and the painful suffering, and etc), that also gives rise to the direct realization towards Oneness, Non-duality, Non-separateness, Timelessness, Attributelessness, Namelessness, Formlessness, Birthlessness, Deathlessness, beginninglessness, and endlessness." - Neither about 'God', nor about 'others' or 'the world', nor about 'oneself'

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Due to the different degrees of clarity that give rise to the different degrees of understanding in the many different minds that have different personalities and characteristics, that have different conditions, situations, experiences, impermanent voluntary and involuntary changes, obstacles, energy levels, hormonal changes, states of mind, and the different speeds of conscious and unconscious evolution of the mind, that are undergoing different stages of different degrees of clarity and different layers of understanding, where the minds are evolving at their own particular cause and pace, and hence, there are different teachings and practices (the different paths) existing to suit each and every individual mind at the different stages of conscious/voluntary/intentional/freewill by choice evolution and unconscious/involuntary/intentionless/non-freewill not by choice evolution, under different degrees of clarity and understanding, where the mind needs to make adjustment and adaptation from time to time to accommodate the ceaseless impermanent changes in the body and mind, in life, and in the surrounding environment.

It doesn't matter which path that the mind prefers and partakes, or changing path at different stages, or keeping one same path throughout the different stages, or changing teachers/gurus/schools/lineages of the same path or in some other paths, it is about the absence of grasping/attachment/identification/clinging/craving/aversion towards all and everything while being diligent, persistent, and determined in the practice under any circumstances, ceaselessly making necessary adjustment and adaptation, be able to move around obstacles, be able to avoid what can be avoided, be able to forbear what cannot be avoided, be able to accept and respect the reality of everything as it is, not necessarily pleasant, desirable, or agreeable, not being distracted by pleasurable enjoyments and not being hammered by painful difficulties, devoid of possessiveness or the sense of belonging and ownership, that will eventually lead the mind towards the annihilation of the veil of ignorance a.k.a. the absence of the idea of 'I', egoism, impurities, and restlessness, where the mind perceives/sees/knows/understands/reflects things as they are, under the state of clarity or stillness (non-distracted one-pointedness), and resting upon unconditional peace, that contributes peace and harmony to the surrounding environment, that benefits all and everyone and everything in the world of many diversities that doesn't belong to anyone or anything.

It doesn't matter by the end of life existence, the selfless impermanent limited and conditional perceptive cognitive intellectual emotional thinking and acting mind is still not free, still in doubt, and still peaceless or restless under the presence and influence of the veil of ignorance. That is also impermanent and non-self. At least during the prolonged process of practicing yoga regularly, to be quieting the mind, to be free from ignorance, and to have peace, or merely to be gaining certain physical and mental health and fitness benefits, is already benefiting oneself and others and the surrounding environment up to certain extend.

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The four paths of yoga - Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga, Jnana Yoga

The minds that are free from the influence of ignorance and are peaceful as they are, they don't need to practice yoga or anything, not to say, to consider which path is suitable for them. They may or may not perform certain yoga practice or activity that benefits the body and mind and/or others and the surrounding environment, if they want.

Bhakti Yoga

The path of devotion is the easiest path for many minds that are not mentally and emotionally independent, as there is either non-development of mental and emotional independence/maturity (mental disability) either due to genetic biological formation by birth, or (mostly) due to deprived/suppressed/prohibited development of mental and emotional independence after birth being conditioned and limited by the surrounding ignorant egoistic possessive ties and connections, either wittingly or unwittingly, under certain limited and conditional conditions and situations.

Instead, the minds are being conditioned and empowered to become highly mental and emotional inter-dependence (intense mental and emotional attachment/clinging/craving), being empowered to develop the need (cultural/family/community/spiritual/religious/national/political/commercial values and practice) to depend on receiving love and support, acknowledgement and recognition, agreement and approval, appreciation and togetherness, or praise and compliment from some others to develop, possess, maintain, and empower the sense of success, accomplishment, satisfaction, deserving, worthiness, righteousness, positiveness, togetherness, powerfulness, purposefulness, usefulness, happiness, joyfulness, and meaningfulness, as well as to depend on something better/higher/purer, or more superior, or more perfect, or more powerful than themselves, to give them the sense of hope, or direction, or purpose, or meaningfulness, or to have a refuge.

These minds are being conditioned to believe in the existence of an almighty 'Creator/Controller/Judge/Authority of the universe', or to believe in the existence of 'the wheel of ceaseless births and deaths or reincarnation of a permanent independent immortal infinite individual consciousness/soul/spirit being reincarnated into many different separate mortal impermanent limited and conditional life existences transitioning between different realms/spheres/worlds being determined by the inexhaustible past accumulated boundless good/bad/neutral karma or merits and virtues and sins that keeps bringing forward to the next and next continuous separate mortal life existences', in order to not getting 'lost' or 'drowned' in the ocean of restlessness, ignorance, and suffering, in order to be good and do good as well as not to be bad and not to do bad (out of fear), in accordance to the particular belief, values, and practice about what is good and bad, or what is right and wrong, as well as to justify many things and behaviors that are unknown or painful to the mind.

However, under the influence of the veil of ignorance or incorrect understanding, the minds under this path might also easily be over-powered by the sense of self-righteousness, that is hurtful to oneself and/or others, where the mind might punish and hurt itself and torture the physical body under the name of shame, guilt, repent, or penance, as well as, might be hurting others out of self-righteousness, pride, possessiveness, sense of belonging, upholding, and protectiveness towards what it thinks is its belief/values/practice/identities/home/family/brotherhood/origin/country/belongings/spirituality/religion/'God'/'gods'/temple/holy place and space, based on its own belief, values, and practice about what is right and wrong, what is good and bad/evil, what is should and shouldn't, what is appropriate and inappropriate, or what is respectful and disrespectful, and etc, being offended and disturbed by as well as being angry and hating or violent and destructive towards what they don't agree with, don't like, and don't desire, that is against or threatening their particular desire, vision, aspiration, ambition, belief, values, and practice, or upon their comforting daily ritual or routine (physical and mental inputs and outputs) that is part of the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (intense craving and aversion towards any particular names and forms), is being disrupted by someone or something.

These minds are living under the presence of fear or tension in themselves being limited and conditioned by such belief, values, and practice, as well as intentionally or unintentionally, they impose/inflict/threaten/intimidate/oppress/limit all the others with fear, hurtful treatment, threat, intimidation, oppression, or limitation based on their own belief, values, and practice about 'The almighty creator/controller/judge/authority of the universe will be judging all and everyone upon death by punishing, sentencing, or inflicting painful suffering unto those that have been disobedient, bad, and wrong,' or about 'The next reincarnation upon the end of this life existence to be reincarnating/transitioning into lower inferior realms/spheres/worlds to be reaping the past accumulated bad karma, or the seeds of painful suffering.'

These minds can be free from all THAT, (only) if they want, out of their own limited and conditional but highly precious conscious awareness, conscious initiation, conscious freewill, and conscious effort, under the presence of intense yearning towards liberation from all THAT, under the presence of perseverance and determination.

However, under the path of devotion that is devoid of the sense of self-righteousness, without imposing its own belief, values, and practice unto any others, where the mind spends most or all of its energy/attention/effort/life existence onto performing all kinds of rituals/chanting/japa and mantra reciting/prayers/scriptures studying/thinking and focusing about 'God', regardless of under what type of names and forms/spirituality/religion/belief/values/practice, where there is no extra energy/attention/effort/space left for engaging in any kinds of harmful activities that harm oneself and/or others and the surrounding environment, that is already what the path is about.

Karma Yoga

The path of action is the most effective path for many minds to be eradicating the ego and egoism practically under the notion of "Perform actions/duties/responsibilities/yoga practice, and let go instantly," a.k.a. "Non-attachment towards the actions, and renouncing the fruit of actions." Or else, the mind will never be free even after many years of performing many good actions to serve and benefit others, if the actions are being performed under the egoistic idea and attachment/identification/craving/aversion/judgment/expectation/desire/intention of, "I have been doing many good actions, and I will receive or experience everything good in return (I will go to heaven, or I will be reincarnated in higher realms), and I won't receive or experience anything bad in return (I won't go to hell, or I will not be reincarnated in lower realms)."

But that's okay too, because just by spending most of the energy/attention/time/effort/life existence to be performing many beneficial actions that will benefit others and the surrounding environment, where there is no energy/time/attention left to be engaging in unwholesome or destructive activities that hurt oneself, or others, or the surrounding environment, regardless of under the presence or absence of grasping, regardless of with or without intention/desire/expectation to be gaining something or anything, is already what the path is about.

If the mind understands about Non-grasping, then there is no difference in all kinds of actions that are being done for oneself, or not for oneself, or for others, as all actions are beneficial to all and everyone and everything that are inter-related to as well as inter-supporting and inter-influencing the existence and function of one another, directly and indirectly. It is not only actions that are being done for others and the surrounding environment, is Karma Yoga. Being alone by oneself to be focusing unto oneself to be looking after the well-being of oneself, is also Karma Yoga. Refraining oneself from engaging in harmful activities that harm oneself and/or others and the surrounding environment, is Karma Yoga. Every single action regardless of involving some others, or not, is all Karma Yoga, under the absence of the idea of 'I' and egoism, or grasping.

Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga, and Jnana Yoga, are not separated from one another and they exist in one another, but they appear to be distinctive and different from one another for the mind that is still functioning under the presence and influence of the veil of ignorance.

Raja Yoga

There are minds that are neither devotional nor desire to accumulate good karma and merits, but they have some energy/time/interest/initiation/inspiration/desire/aspiration/ability/possibility for doing something that benefits the over-all well-being of their own body and mind.

There might be something that they want to attain from engaging in some kind of yoga practice.

- There is certain degrees of yearning towards liberation to be liberated from doubts and painful suffering,

- There is the initiation and desire of "I want to be free", "I want to be happy", "I want to have peace", or even, under wishful desire of "I want to develop and possess super physical and mental power to do and achieve everything that I desire and to control everything to be the way that I desire",

- To be recovering from certain existing physical and mental illness/weakness/injury/limitation and to avoid certain preventable physical and mental illness/weakness/injury/limitation,

- To be maintaining and empowering physical and mental health and fitness condition,

- To improve the over-all physical appearance and mental state, to look good and feel good about themselves,

- To be able to perform and demonstrate many of the challenging yoga asana poses,

- To empower the sense of self-esteem and self-worth or meaningfulness,

- To overcome negative thinking and the disturbed unhappy state of mind,

- To improve concentration to enhance study and work performance,

- Having the conscious awareness and initiative of want to stop hurting oneself and/or others,

- To expand one's social networking and friends making, to be socializing and interacting with some others of similar interests,

- There is free time and energy to learn and do or experience something or anything,

- Challenging oneself, or being challenged by some others,

- Being inspired and aspire to become 'yoga teacher', or to become like 'some others that oneself admires',

- Want to change the world to be a better place,

- Want to have some peaceful quiet moment and space for oneself, to be away from the over-whelming madness in the surrounding environment or in the world, 

- And under any particular type of inspirations, aspirations, desires, and intentions.

These minds are being restless and exhausted swaying back and forth between happiness and unhappiness, satisfaction and dissatisfaction, goodness and badness, meaningfulness and meaninglessness, joyfulness and joylessness, positiveness and negativeness, hopefulness and hopelessness, togetherness and separateness, enjoyment and suffering, and so on, however, if they have the basic physical and mental function and ability and energy to be learning something physically and mentally, and to perform certain physical and mental activity, and have certain opportunity and possibility of engaging in certain physical and mental yoga practice such as Asana, Pranayama, Yama, Niyama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi, where all these practices and observations served as the tools to turn the outgoing tendency of the mind inward, to render the mind calm, quiet, focus, and clear.

The path of mind conquest or self discipline, is the most common and all rounded path of yoga, that suits most minds that are interested to be learning and engaging in some kind of yoga practice regularly, especially the inspired and aspiring minds that aspire to become 'yoga teachers' under their own particular reason. But this is also the path of yoga that is easily being contaminated, misused, and/or commercialized widely, even though there is nothing wrong in making an honest livelihood from conducting yoga classes or teaching yoga to others.

The different types/styles/brands of yoga classes/workshops/teachers training courses deriving from and attaching onto different schools/lineages/teachers/gurus, exist for the yoga enthusiasts to learn the basic teachings and practice from certain yoga teachers by attending the yoga classes/workshops/courses that are available easily in everywhere, even if these yoga classes/workshops/courses are heavily commercialized being transformed into a form of commodity/trade/service, and there's neither good nor bad, neither right nor wrong, but after learning about the basic knowledge and understanding on the teachings and practice of yoga, the yoga students need to develop independent self-practice, without the need to be attending ongoing yoga classes, or to be accompanying by and interacting with some others, or to be supervised and encouraged by some others, in order to be self-independent, self-initiative, and self-discipline to perform the yoga practice diligently and regularly by oneself, alone, in solitude and seclusion.

There is neither right nor wrong, if after many years, one still needs to rely on attending ongoing yoga classes/workshops/courses, to be physically and mentally motivated to perform the yoga practice under the company of some others in the group yoga classes, as well as under the supervision/instruction/encouragement of the yoga teachers in the group or private yoga classes, or else one doesn't know what to do and/or isn't motivated to perform the yoga practice by oneself, alone. Or, to be continuously reminding oneself on the basic teachings and practice of yoga. Or, merely to be continuously learning more new styles or routines. Or, maybe there is no suitable conducive space available to oneself at home or anywhere for performing the yoga practice except in the space provided by the yoga teachers/schools/centres/studios, even if oneself can perform the yoga practice independently by oneself, alone, without the need of companionship, interaction, instruction, supervision, or encouragement from any others. By attending ongoing yoga classes/workshops/courses regularly, regardless of under any particular reason, regardless of highly/slightly commercialized or non-commercialized, and regardless of whether the mind develops correct understanding, or not, it is already a great wholesome activity that benefits oneself and others.

The path of devotion and/or the path of action also can be contaminated, misused, or commercialized, where under the name of highest devotion towards 'God' or 'Guru', and under the name of serving 'God' or 'Guru' or 'others', unconditionally, many desperate suffering disturbed minds are wittingly and/or unwittingly being exploited and/or abused physically, mentally, emotionally, sexually, and/or financially, by the other minds that are highly corrupted.

The minds that are undertaking any of these paths to begin with, might change path later on, or might be undertaking more than one path or all paths simultaneously at different stages under different reasons or just want to experience different paths and/or all paths to see which one suits oneself most, or eventually, the minds start to realize that there is no separateness or distinction among the different paths, where all paths exist among one another, where there is no this path and that path, but all are one, as the minds evolve further and develop greater clarity and understanding towards the universal teachings of Yoga Vedanta, or the dhamma.

It is all about preparing the mind to be focus, calm, quiet, and clear, that enables self-inquiry and self-realization to be happening, naturally, intentionlessly, and effortlessly.

The paths of Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, and Raja Yoga (if being practiced diligently and persistently under correct understanding and right attitude) will eventually merge into Jnana Yoga, intentionlessly, effortlessly, and naturally.

The passionate mind will become dispassionate.

The non-intellectual mind will become highly intellectual.

The mentally and emotionally dependent mind will become mentally and emotionally independent.

The irrational and superstitious mind will become rational and scientific.

The fearful mind will become fearless.

The outgoing wandering wavering indecisive mind will become one-pointed, firm, and precise.

The doubtful mind will become doubtless.

The non-understanding mind will become understanding.

The close-minded will become open-minded.

The devotion towards 'God' or 'gods' will become the respect towards the universal Dhamma, or the universal Truth of selflessness, impermanence, limitation, conditional, and non-self. 

The ignorant egoistic impure possessive obsessive lustful jealous violent angry hating hurtful greedy ambitious prideful selfish uncomfortable distracted disturbed restless suffering murky mind will become silent and clear.

Wisdom (the absolute knowledge, the correct understanding, the universal dhamma) is there as it is, under the absence of the veil of ignorance under the state of absolute clarity, regardless of being rendered under which type of practice under any path.

Jnana Yoga

The rare minds that are naturally dispassionate and rational being endowed with or that have developed certain degrees of clarity and basic correct understanding under the presence of higher intellectual reasoning power as well as mental and emotional independence, either genetically and biologically inherited by birth, or developed from young after birth, or after have been engaging in the other paths of Bhakti Yoga, or Karma Yoga, or Raja Yoga, to be rendering the mind focus, calm, quiet, and clear (one-pointedness being in the present), to be thinning-out and eradicating the ego and egoism, or have been purifying and sharpening the intellectual reasoning power via the observation of renunciation, dispassion, solitude, seclusion, and silence, to be free from the influence or contamination of worldly egoistic conditional and influential ideas, beliefs, values, practices, actions, reactions, behaviors, visions, inspirations, and aspirations to reason everything, then these minds are suitable for undertaking directly, or evolving indirectly and eventually onto the path of right discrimination and wisdom, or the path of self inquiry and self realization - Jnana Yoga, to know Thyself, or to attain direct self realization towards the truth of all these names and forms that the mind comes in contact with.

The path of Jnana Yoga cannot be contaminated, misused, or commercialized, even if some corrupted impure minds try their best to do that.

The minds that don't have the basic correct understanding or mental and emotional independence won't be taking the path of Jnana Yoga, because it is too difficult, intimidating, impossible, unreachable, non-comprehensible, non-interesting, or even too boring for them. Meanwhile, the minds that are taking the path of Jnana Yoga, are already endowed with some essential basic correct understanding (right discrimination and dispassion - Viveka and Vairagya) as well as mental and emotional independence or maturity, where these minds won't be fooled, or influenced, or manipulated, or threatened, or intimidated, or bullied, or lured, or exploited, or determined by the corrupted activities and behaviors of the corrupted minds.

How can anyone trade/sell/buy wisdom, or liberation from ignorance, or unconditional peace, or absolute knowledge, or self realization, or enlightenment, or the universal dhamma, or the universal truth of Selflessness, Impermanence, Limitation, Conditional, and Non-self that exists in all and everyone and everything, within and without?

The yoga teachers don't and couldn't sell all THAT to anyone, but there is nothing wrong to be making an honest livelihood to support the momentary life existence and function of the body and mind, while exerting energy/time/effort/inevitable cost into engaging in certain activities to transmit the knowledge, teachings, and practice of yoga to some others who are interested in learning and practicing and realizing yoga.

Even after paying some fees, or donations, or offerings to the yoga teachers to learn about the teachings and practice of yoga, the yoga student (the mind) still needs to perform all the practice physically and mentally, regularly and diligently, under its own continuous effort and perseverance, all by itself, to prepare itself for self inquiry, and to attain direct self realization through intense willpower, effort, perseverance, and determination, via direct experience towards the truth of selflessness, impermanence, limitation, conditional, and non-self within the body and mind and in the surrounding environment in all kinds of names and forms that the mind perceives through the senses, while may or may not be undergoing additional evitable and inevitable obstacles or difficulties, of undergoing unpleasant and undesirable difficult conditions and situations internally and/or externally, or coming in contact with painful suffering directly or indirectly, that are all neither good nor bad.

The minds on the path of right discrimination or wisdom, they can be and might be, but they don't need to be engaging in any forms of chanting, prayers, japa and mantra reciting, or serving 'God'/others/the world under particular name and form, or observing yama and niyama, or performing asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, and dhyana practice regularly or irregularly under particular name and form, or coming in and out of Samadhi.

All and everything, all kinds of impermanent abilities, limitations, and conditions, all kinds of experiences, all kinds of easiness and difficulties, all kinds of uncertainty and impermanent changes, all kinds of impermanent pleasurable enjoyments and painful suffering, all kinds of goodness and badness, the entire physical structure operating by different bodily systems, and all the impermanent states of mind, are the dhamma/teachings/teachers/gurus/realization/knowledge/wisdom.

All and everything, in action or inaction, understanding or non-understanding, known and unknown, agreeable or disagreeable, true or untrue, perfection or imperfection, pure or impure, contaminated or non-contaminated, finite or infinite, including the existence and function of the different paths of yoga and/or buddhism and their different brunches/lineages, all kinds of pleasurable enjoyments and painful sufferings, all kinds of ignorance and consequences of ignorance, the direct experience and realization, realized or non-realized, wise or ignorant, peaceful or peaceless, long-lived or short-lived, easy life or difficult life, knowledgeable or non-knowledgeable, intelligent or non-intelligent, educated or non-educated, aware or unaware, healthy or unhealthy, good or bad, right or wrong, happiness and unhappiness, positiveness and negativeness, success and failure, gain and loss, accomplishment and non-accomplishment, and etc, all kinds of manifestations under whatever types of cause and effect and impermanent changes, and the existence and function of the modification of the perceptive cognitive intellectual emotional thinking and acting mind under different states of consciousness, are all Selfless, Impermanent, Limited, Conditional, and Non-self.

The violent disturbed minds that would hurt themselves and others and the surrounding environment, as well as the minds that ignite, provoke, and promote others to hurt themselves and others and the surrounding environment, are all functioning under the presence and influence of the veil of ignorance.

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The presence and experience or manifestation of all kinds of obstacles or difficulties on the path of yoga and/or buddhism, or in daily life, are not because of 'bad karma' or 'sin', but merely the consequences or by-products of ignorance coming from the presence and influence of the veil of ignorance in the mind that gives rise to corrupted and ignorant thinking, reasoning, understanding, ideas, beliefs, values, practices, inspirations, aspirations, desires, actions, reactions, or behaviors that are hurting or limiting/affecting/impacting oneself and/or others and the surrounding environment. But more importantly, the veil of ignorance is not something bad, or wrong, or negative, or short-coming, or weakness, or shame deserving, or suffering deserving, but it is a common natural manifestation in all minds under the presence of conscious and semi-conscious awareness upon the state of consciousness and semi-consciousness.

Although the veil of ignorance is something common and natural, and there is neither right nor wrong, but the minds that are functioning under the presence and influence of the veil of ignorance are most probably not aware of that, or might be aware of that but don't understand towards all THAT, and hence, either wittingly and/or unwittingly, the minds keep generating actions and reactions (behaviors) that might hurt itself and/or others and the surrounding environment, intentionally or unintentionally, directly and indirectly.

That's why it is the highest duty of all minds to be engaging in the mind purification and silencing process (conscious mind evolution towards liberation from ignorance), to be free from the influence of the veil of ignorance, to know Thyself, to know the universal truth of Selflessness, Impermanence, Limitation, Conditional, and Non-self, where the mind will stop hurting or doesn't hurt itself and/or others and the surrounding environment.

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Upon the mind is rendered calm, quiet, focus, and clear, contemplate or reflect upon the truth of the essential teachings of yoga and/or buddhism -

"A yogi or vedantin is not determined by the impermanent limited and conditional condition, ability, disability, limitation, eat or doesn't eat, do or doesn't do, think or doesn't think, feel or doesn't feel, has or doesn't have, known or unknown, and achievement or non-achievement of the physical and mental function of the body and mind. All 'karma' will burn in toto (disappear), the 'wheel of ceaseless births and deaths' will come to a stand still (disappear), the world of names and forms (of duality/separateness/impermanent changes/decay and disintegration/limitation/conditional/restlessness) ceased existing (disappear), in silence, upon self realization, upon reaching the state of Turiya - beyond the three states of consciousness/semi-consciousness/unconsciousness, beyond the three Gunas/energy fields/energy levels/elements/states of mind/hormonal changes/impermanent changes, limitations, and conditions." - The essence of Yoga Vedanta.

"All are selfless. All are impermanent. All are limited and conditional. All are non-self. Non-believing/following/worshiping/glorifying, not to say, non-blind believing/following/worshiping/glorifying, as well as non-blind practicing and non-blind propagating. Inquiring and attaining the truth of everything under the limited and conditional impermanent selfless conscious awareness, conscious freewill, self-initiation, self-effort, self-discipline, self-control, self-introspection, self-investigation, and self-inquiry, under the presence of non-grasping. Silencing the restless mind, a.k.a. removing the veil of ignorance, and attaining direct self realization towards the truth of everything." - The essence of Buddhism.

"You come alone. You go alone. You are left alone now. Live alone. Eat alone. Walk alone. Meditate alone. Do not mix. Do not associate. Do not hoard disciples. Do not build ashrams." - The repeated advice of Swami Sivananda

"The only one book to read is the heart." - The advice of Ajahn Chah

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

Both the teachings and practice of Yoga Vedanta and Buddhism are grounded in non-grasping, non-attachment, non-identification, non-craving, non-aversion, non-judgment, non-comparison, non-expectation, perseverance, determination, forbearance, patience, acceptance, adjustment, adaptation, accommodation, intense yearning for liberation/freedom/knowledge/peace, renunciation, dispassion, right discrimination, solitude, seclusion, mental and emotional independence, desirelessness, non-violence, non-greed, non-hatred, the middle path, simplicity, non-hoarding, non-possessiveness, truthfulness, non-interference, respect, self-control, self-discipline, self-effort, self-inquiry, self-realization, direct experience, non-believing/following/worshiping/glorifying, non-blind practicing, non-blind propagating, open mind, silence, non-dualism, oneness, non-separateness, unconditional peace, the annihilation of the veil of ignorance, a.k.a. the absence of the idea of 'I'/conscious self acknowledgement/sense of separateness between 'I' and 'not I' (the ego), egoism, impurities, and restlessness, or the stillness/silence of the restless egoistic impure thought current/thinking process/thought activity/modification or state of the mind, or Samadhi, as well as the universal timeless intentionless changeless permanent infinite truth of Selflessness, Impermanence, Limitation, Conditional, and Non-self, and the intentionless and attributeless nature's law of cause and effect (that is widely being misinterpreted as the 'good/bad/neutral karma' or 'merits and virtues and sins').

There is neither good nor bad, neither right nor wrong, where most minds are being conditioned more or less by all those worldly egoistic ideas, beliefs, justifications, values, practices, actions, reactions, behaviors, visions, inspirations, and aspirations, to analyze, evaluate, understand, behave, and desire or expect everything in certain way. 

As the mind evolves towards greater degrees of clarity as well as deeper and clearer understanding, the mind starts to understand the meanings of the essential teachings of Yoga Vedanta and/or Buddhism, as well as about all those worldly egoistic ideas, beliefs, justifications, values, practices, actions, reactions, behaviors, visions, inspirations, and aspirations.

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

Neither right nor wrong in the different understanding towards the same teachings 

There is neither right nor wrong in the function of the mind that is being determined/affected/influenced/disturbed/conditioned and limited by the perception of duality.

Upon reaching the state of absolute clarity, those same minds transcend all kinds of duality, where they perceive, acknowledge, and see things as they are, neither positively nor negatively, neither meaningfully nor meaninglessly, where all and everything are selfless, impermanent, limited, conditional, and non-self. There is neither grasping nor non-grasping at this stage, as there is no ego being there to assert grasping or non-grasping.

Suffering arise upon the presence of grasping. There is no suffering upon the absence of grasping, or there is neither grasping nor non-grasping.

There is nothing wrong with the many different understanding and the evolution of the understanding towards the same teachings by the same mind at different stages, not to say, by the many different minds at different stages.

Inquire the truth of everything.

Mind the action reaction of oneself, don't mind the action reaction of others

It is a natural common egoistic mind behavior pattern in most minds where upon the state of consciousness/wakefulness and semi-consciousness/semi-awake and semi-sleep, the mind is being busy minding about the action and inaction as well as the reaction and non-reaction of the others, being determined and disturbed by all THAT (what others do and don't do and how others react or don't react) wittingly and unwittingly, as the mind ceaselessly and spontaneously reacts towards all THAT that the mind perceives and recognizes as something good or bad, right or wrong, should or shouldn't, agreeable or disagreeable, desirable or undesirable, and pleasant or unpleasant, based on its own particular way of thinking, belief/disbelief, likes and dislikes, desires and don't desires, agreements and disagreements.

The mind is being pleased and empowered by the gratification of its desire of craving and aversion, while being displeased, dissatisfied, disappointed, demotivated, belittled, unhappy, annoyed, offended, or angry upon the non-gratification of its desires of craving and aversion, upon others don't act/react in the way that it expects how others should act/react (the good and right way based on its own particular belief, values, and practice about what is good/bad/right/wrong/should/shouldn't), or upon others act and react in the way that it thinks and believes that others shouldn't act/react (not the good and right way, but the bad and wrong way based on its own particular belief, values, and practice).

The minds that are not interested in learning and practicing and realizing yoga and/or buddhism, they don't have to practice yoga and/or buddhism, not to say, to practice yoga and/or buddhism as it is.

The minds that are interested in learning and practicing and realizing yoga and/or buddhism, then, only if they want, they can practice yoga and/or buddhism (practically and effectively in everyday life affair/activity/ties and connections/relationship/friendship/interaction/communication beyond the yoga class or the yoga practice session, or beyond all kinds of physical and mental yoga and/or buddhism practice), as it is.

In the beginning on the path of yoga and/or buddhism, the mind needs to have the essential basic correct understanding towards,

"All and everyone have the freedom to think, believe, behave, act, and react, in certain way or not in certain way, as they are, as well as, not thinking, not believing, not behaving, not acting, or not reacting, in certain way or not in certain way, as they are. All and everyone are responsible towards their own particular way of thinking, belief, behavior, action, and reaction, as well as also be accountable for the consequences of their own particular way of thinking, belief, behavior, action, and reaction, in certain way or not in certain way."

The mind that understands this, will not be disturbed or determined by the thinking, belief/disbelief, agreement/disagreement, desire/don't desire, like/dislike, behavior, action/inaction, and reaction/non-reaction as well as the consequences of all THAT, that are coming from oneself and all and everyone.

"How the mind think, believe/disbelieve, agree/disagree, desire/doesn't desire, like/dislike, behave, act, and react towards all and everyone and everything, is the freedom of choice and responsibility of the mind itself." 

"The mind is accountable for the consequences of the thinking, belief/disbelief, agreement/disagreement, desire/don't desire, like/dislike, behavior, action, and reaction of itself towards all and everything, but none is accountable for the thinking, belief/disbelief, agreement/disagreement, desire/don't desire, like/dislike, behavior, action, and reaction of all the others towards all and everything."

"Peace and happiness in the mind, is the freedom of conscious and semi-conscious choice/effort/action taking/understanding/responsibility of the mind itself. Similarly, the presence and absence of violence, anger, hatred, bitterness, resentment, admiration, jealousy, intimidation, disappointment, dissatisfaction, offensiveness, defensiveness, fear, worry, discontentment, greed, unrest, and unhappiness in the mind is the freedom of conscious and semi-conscious choice/effort/action taking/understanding/responsibility of the mind itself, where the mind has the conscious and semi-conscious freewill/choice/effort/understanding towards either grasping or non-grasping, holding onto or non-holding onto, letting go or non-letting go towards something or all and everything, and it is the freedom of action reaction of the mind itself, whether to act and react in certain way or not in certain way (either non-grasping or grasping, holding onto or letting go, to be disturbed or undisturbed, to be happy or unhappy, to be selfish or unselfish, to be kind or unkind, to be constructive or destructive)."

"The mind reacts and feels pleased, satisfied, motivated, empowered, good, happy, and meaningful is because its desires of craving and aversion are being gratified, while the mind reacts and feels displeased, dissatisfied, demotivated, hammered, bad, unhappy, and meaningless is because its desires of craving and aversion are not being gratified. It is not the names and forms that the mind perceives/experiences/comes in contact with are having the quality or intention to make the mind reacts and feels in certain way or not in certain way."

"Some people react and feel good and happy when some others give them some apples that they like very much, but they react and feel bad and unhappy when some others give them some oranges that they hate very much. Meanwhile, some people react and feel good and happy when some others give them some oranges, but they react and feel bad and unhappy when some others give them some apples. It is not the quality or intention of the apples or the oranges that make the people react and feel in certain way or not in certain way. The people are happy and satisfied is because either they are getting/experiencing/coming in contact with what they like and desire and agree with, or when they don't get/experience/come in contact with what they don't like and don't desire and don't agree with. The people are unhappy and dissatisfied is because either they are getting/experiencing/coming in contact with what they don't like and don't desire and don't agree with, or when they don't get/experience/come in contact with what they like and desire and agree with."

"Looking after the general physical and mental well-being of the body and mind is the sole responsibility of the body and mind itself upon reaching certain degrees of maturity in the physical and mental development, unless there is completely absence of the physical and mental development of such conscious and semi-conscious physical and mental ability either due to deformity upon birth, or young age, or disease/illness, or injury, or aging, or being conditioned and suppressed by the worldly egoistic ideas, belief, values, and practice of non-development/non-encouragement/suppression/prohibition towards mental and emotional independence under certain selfish and greedy ambitions/visions/agendas in a couple/a family/parents and children/siblings/a community/a tribe/an ethnicity/a culture/a spirituality/a religion/a country/an organization under the sense of belonging/ownership/possessiveness and the urge to influence and control all and everything to be the way that one desires."

"How all and everyone live life and make use of the selfless impermanent limited conditional and non-self momentary life existence and function of the body and mind, and the outcome of that, is the responsibility and accountability of all and everyone themselves."

Only upon the mind is being undetermined or undisturbed by all THAT (the thinking, belief/disbelief, agreement/disagreement, desire/don't desire, like/dislike, behavior, action/inaction, and reaction/non-reaction of oneself and all the others towards all and everything as well as the consequences/outcome of all THAT), then there is possibility for the restless modification of the mind to be rendered calm and quiet effectively under the state of consciousness and semi-consciousness, that will enable the mind to see, or know, or understand all and everything that the mind comes in contact with, clearly as they are, as it is, under the presence of conscious and semi-conscious awareness/cognition/intellectual reasoning/understanding/knowing, under the absence of grasping.

The mind needs to divert the outgoing tendency of "busy minding and interfering towards the thinking, belief/disbelief, agreement/disagreement, desire/don't desire, like/dislike, behavior, action/inaction, and reaction/non-reaction of all the others towards all and everything being conditioned by their own different particular way of thinking, belief/disbelief, agreements/disagreements, desires/don't desires, and likes/dislikes towards all and everything" inward onto minding and introspecting the selfless impermanent limited conditional and non-self thought process/modification/state of the mind of itself, without grasping, and not being determined or disturbed by all THAT (the action/inaction/reaction/non-reaction and their consequences of oneself and/or all the others), regardless of agreeable or disagreeable, desirable or undesirable, and pleasant or unpleasant based on one's thinking, belief/disbelief, likes and dislikes, desires and doesn't desires, or agreements and disagreements.

The mind needs to free itself from the sense of self-righteousness and interference towards the freedom of all the others being what they are, as they are.

Such mind will have more and more peace, will be more and more quiet and clear, and will have more and more understanding towards the selfless impermanent limited conditional and non-self existence and function or modification of itself and everything.

Non-grasping/Non-clinging/Non-holding onto/Letting go/Non-possessive, is the entire practice of yoga and/or buddhism, while all the other practices such as yoga asana and pranayama practice, concentration and meditation practice, chanting and japa, renunciation, solitude, seclusion, silence (mauna), and etc, are merely some helping tools that can help the mind to turn inward to focus within, to render the restless thought process/modification/state of mind calm, quiet, and clear, to develop the correct understanding that leads towards the timeless unconditional peace in oneself that illuminates unto all and everyone and everything in the surrounding environment, indiscriminately and unconditionally.

The mind that has established firmly on Non-grasping/Non-clinging/Non-holding onto/Letting go/Non-possessiveness, doesn't need to observe or partake all the other practices or observations, however, there are some momentary limited and conditional beneficial side effects deriving from all those regular physical and mental practices that can help to empower and maintain certain degrees of physical and mental health and fitness condition up to certain extend, that enables the body and mind to have the basic health and fitness condition to be performing ego-less activities/actions that can benefit oneself and all and everyone and everything and the surrounding environment that doesn't belong to anyone or anything.

It's absolutely nothing bad or wrong, if under certain condition and situation, there is no availability or there is not enough basic health and fitness condition for the body and mind to perform certain or any actions/activities for oneself and/or others and the surrounding environment. It really doesn't matter. But more importantly, is that the mind is at peace unconditionally under any conditions and situations, under the presence of correct understanding, under the absence of grasping/clinging/holding onto/possessiveness.

What and how much the mind knows and doesn't know, understands or doesn't understand, not to say, what and how much other minds know and don't know, understand or don't understand, is not important at all, but the absence of grasping onto all THAT, is the upmost important element that will lead the mind towards knowing and understanding the truth of everything that the mind knows or comes in contact with, as it is.

The mind is limited and conditional. It is the truth. It is not a weakness or shame/condemn/punishment/suffering deserving. 

Just like the mirror and the reflection being reflected by the mirror. The mirror that is devoid of movement, distortion, crack, dust, stain, or obstacle between the mirror and the object of reflection (the mind that is devoid of the veil of ignorance/the ego/egoism/impurities/restlessness), will reflect anything that is being reflected on it, as it is.

It is not important that the flawless motionless mirror doesn't and cannot reflect all and everything of all angles and all directions at once, where it can only reflects what is there in front of it (what the mind knows or comes in contact with, is limited, and what the mind doesn't know or doesn't come in contact with, is unlimited. The sum accumulated knowledge is limited, the continuous endless accumulation of knowledge is unlimited), but more importantly, whatever that is being reflected on the flawless motionless mirror will be reflected as it is (the truth as it is, or the correct understanding towards what the mind knows or comes in contact with).

Most importantly, the mirror is not being determined, or contaminated, or disturbed, or modified by the reflection of all kinds of objects under different qualities of names and forms that is being reflected unto it.

Similarly, the mind that is devoid of grasping, is not being determined, or contaminated, or disturbed, or modified by the selfless impermanent limited conditional and non-self modification of the mind, of random thought activities/thinking process, of whatever the mind perceives/experiences/comes in contact with towards all kinds of names and forms under different qualities (pleasant or unpleasant/good or bad/positive or negative/desirable or undesirable/agreeable or disagreeable/enjoyable or non-enjoyable/soothing or painful), and vice versa.

The only difference between the mirror and the mind, is that the mirror is a non-living object that doesn't has the conscious/semi-conscious freewill, or choice, or effort, or organs of action to perform action/reaction to be in or move away from certain beneficial or detrimental conditions or situations, while the mind is part of the living organism that has the conscious/semi-conscious freewill, or choice, or effort, or organs of action to perform action/reaction to be in or move away from certain beneficial or detrimental conditions or situations.

Inquire the truth of everything. 

Understanding, non-understanding, misunderstanding

Regardless of the different degrees of intelligence, education, learning, experience, talent, skill, ability, and knowledge accumulation, one can be understanding, or non-understanding, or misunderstanding towards something and/or all and everything.

Understanding/correct understanding/uncontaminated reasoning and discrimination - Beneficial towards all and everyone and everything, under the absence of self-righteousness, possessiveness, pride and shame, superiority and inferiority, envy and jealousy, discontentment and greed, anger, hatred, intimidation, interference, manipulation, or ill-will and hurtful violent action/reaction/behavior/activity towards all and everyone and everything, regardless of what other minds perceived/reasoned/recognized/judged/understood as pleasant or unpleasant, agreeable or disagreeable, desirable or undesirable, kind or unkind, wise or ignorant, good or evil, respectful or disrespectful, complimentary or offensive, promotive or obstructive, and constructive or destructive. Performing actions/activities that are beneficial towards all and everyone and everything indiscriminately and unconditionally, while respecting all and everyone and everything being what they are, as they are, and that are constantly changing under their own respective cause and pace.

Non-understanding - Could be benefiting or harming oneself and others and the surrounding environment with random action/reaction/behavior/activity that could be either constructive or destructive, beneficial or harmful, consciously/semi-consciously/randomly/ignorantly and unconsciously/autonomously/instinctively/unwittingly.

It is okay to acknowledge that, "I don't understand this or that or anything, and I don't know how to do this or that or anything because I don't have understanding."

It is much better than, "I understand this or that or everything, and I do everything and many things under my understanding," but then the understanding is misunderstanding or incorrect understanding.

Misunderstanding/incorrect understanding/contaminated impure egoistic reasoning and discrimination - Harmful towards all and everyone and everything, under the presence and influence of self-righteousness, possessiveness, pride and shame, superiority and inferiority, envy and jealousy, discontentment and greed, anger, hatred, intimidation, interference, manipulation, or ill-will and hurtful violent action/reaction/behavior/activity towards all and everyone and everything that the mind perceived/reasoned/recognized/judged/understood as unpleasant, disagreeable, undesirable, unkind, ignorant, evil, disrespectful, offensive, obstructive, and destructive towards oneself and one's attachments and possessions (identity/title/position/reputation/image/status/pride/livelihood/health/wealth/belongings/enjoyments/learning/ability/mobility/freedom/'rights'/ancestor/family/community/friendship/relationship/culture/nationality/spirituality/religion/belief/thinking/reasoning/judgment/understanding/values/practices/desires/aspirations/visions/ambitions/achievements/contributions, and etc), while promoting and empowering what the mind perceived/reasoned/recognized/judged/understood as pleasant, agreeable, desirable, kind, wise, good, respectful, complimentary, promotive, and constructive towards oneself and one's attachments and possessions, but it is not the truth. Building one's success, accomplishment, ambition, vision, enjoyment, satisfaction, comfort, and happiness by manipulating, exploiting, intimidating, bullying, and hurting all and everyone and everything in the surrounding environment that doesn't belong to anyone or anything.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 

Inquire the truth of everything.

Look after the well-being of the mind by the mind itself.

The minds that are functioning under the influence of the veil of ignorance would think/reason/understand/believe that, "Prosperity (what the egoistic minds referred as - local and global economy generation and stimulation) derived from endless discontentment, ceaseless and boundless interactive activities/affairs/events/celebrations/festivals/interactions/ideas/inspirations/creativity/inventions/innovations/productions/trades/expansions, ties and connectivity, and boundless ambitious desires, aspirations, and visions." And hence, they strongly think and believe that contentment, dispassion, desirelessness, simplicity, silence, seclusion, renunciation, non-interaction, non-violence, non-aggressiveness, mental and emotional independence, or peace are the enemy, or obstruction, or weakness, or destruction towards 'prosperity'.

Almost all and everyone, in anywhere and everywhere in the world, especially among the highly educated, intelligent, and knowledgeable ones, are being 'educated', 'encouraged', and 'empowered' to "never be contented", "you deserve better and much more than this", "you can achieve everything that you desire", "you can be unlimited and you are unlimited", "you can fly", "keep going and reaching higher and higher", "never stop dreaming, and never stop chasing your endless dreams", "be strong, be positive, be optimistic", "enjoy life to the maximum", "become one of the top rich and powerful people", "be highly passionate and ambitious" to achieve endless and boundless desires, that generate and stimulate 'prosperity'.

All these ideas and all kinds of youth/educational/women/minority/career/business/entrepreneurship/cooperative/commercial/community/national/political/spiritual/religious/cultural empowerment even spread into the world of yoga and buddhism, particularly in the world of yoga that can be highly commercialized and can be manipulated into anything.

There are quite many 'yoga enthusiasts/practitioners/teachers' are being empowered by as well as empowering ideas, values, and practices of 'be passionate', 'one big family', 'mental and emotional dependence', 'healing power', 'indulgence of the senses', 'authorization and association', 'certification and qualification', 'be strong and stronger', 'you can fly', 'be good and do good and all goodness will come to you', 'you can be anything and achieve anything that you desire', 'auspicious/inauspicious timing, form, shape, colour, smell, sight, sound, taste, feel, texture, atmosphere, position, direction, object, accessory, decoration, happening, activity, and etc', 'positive thinking/mind power of transforming everything become all good and positive, and making all desires/dreams come true', and so on.

These passionate egoistic ideas/beliefs/values/visions/practices/encouragement/empowerment are indeed 'the fuel' that empowers 'the most serious form of evitable unnecessary mental illness', or the veil of ignorance, or the restless impure egoistic modification of the mind, or the conditional mind thinking behavior pattern being conditioned by the idea of 'I', egoism, impurities, and restlessness, where the minds keep hurting itself and others and the surrounding environment ignorantly, by actively performing and engaging in all kinds of actions/activities, while thinking/believing/understanding that all one's actions/activities are 'good, right, meaningful, positive, beneficial, intelligent, and constructive'.

All the empowered boundless and endless greedy desires and ambitions didn't just give rise to so much unnecessary direct and indirect damages to the physical and mental health of all and everyone as well as directly and indirectly impacting the surrounding living environment of this planet earth that doesn't belong to anyone or anything, but the highly empowered ambitious minds want to extend such damaging impactful human egoistic activities beyond this planet, under the help of advance science and technology.

Without proper basic mental health that gives rise to basic correct understanding or partial incomplete understanding that leads to complete understanding or absolute knowledge, all kinds of abilities/opportunities/talents/skills/efforts/achievements/inventions/innovations/knowledge/success/status/prosperity/power/positive thinking/all kinds of identity pride/vision/ambition/aspiration are nothing but destructive towards all and everyone and everything under the presence and influence of misunderstanding or incorrect understanding (The veil of ignorance - the idea of 'I', egoism, impurities, and restlessness), being fed and empowered by worldly egoistic ideas, beliefs, values, visions, practices, attachments, identities, ties and connections, interactions, affairs, and activities.

Real and beneficial prosperity of all kinds derived from ego-less efforts/activities under the presence of peace and correct understanding in oneself that contributes peace and harmony in the world (surrounding environment) of many diversities that doesn't belong to anyone or anything, even if all and everything are impermanent, limited, and conditional.

Peace, silence, non-sociable, non-interactive, dispassion, desirelessness, simplicity, solitude, seclusion, mental and emotional independence, and contentment in the mind doesn't mean idleness, laziness, inaction, non-improvement, poor quality of living, living under poverty/insufficiency/extreme difficult condition, non-cooperative, anti-social, anti-education, anti-higher technology, anti-commercialism, anti-leadership/government, anti-prosperity, or non-contributing to local and global economy.

In fact, all kinds of actions/activities/works/businesses/higher advanced technology/scientific studies and research/engineering/architecture/health and medical care/inventions/innovations/productions/ties and connections/interactions/communications/affairs/duties/responsibilities/management/government/organization/basic and higher education can be carried-out ego-lessly, desirelessly, smoothly, and efficiently under the absence of the veil of ignorance, that will benefit all and everyone and everything in the surrounding environment, that will improve quality of living that doesn't need to be excessive more than sufficient basic needs for life maintenance and to have a healthy living condition of having an essential balance between physical and mental rest and activity under a peaceful environment for the momentary life existence and function of a selfless impermanent limited conditional and non-self body and mind, devoid of unnecessary conflicts and problems or harmful activities and affairs in the world of many diversities that doesn't belong to anyone or anything.

Quiet/annihilate the restless impure egoistic modification of the mind.

Renounce.

Solitude.

Seclusion.

Meditate.

Silence.

Peace.

Wisdom/correct understanding/absolute knowledge.

Non-violence.

Respect.

Egoism-less actions/activities/ties and connections/communications/interactions/productivity/duties and responsibilities.

Prosperity*.

*Sufficient basic needs for life maintenance to be having a healthy enough body with a peaceful, happy, and free mind existing and functioning under the essential balance between physical and mental rest and activity, living under a conducive and supportive healthy and peaceful surrounding living environment in the world of many diversities that doesn't belong to anyone or anything, but all and everyone and everything are selflessly performing their own respective duty and responsibility, that also indiscriminately and unconditionally inter-supporting one another to be existing and functioning momentarily in this space that doesn't belong to anyone or anything.