Today once again I realised how
important certain progressions are and the series in which they must be
practiced. Let me explain but for that I need to describe last evening a
little. Recently I have made some lovely company in two beautiful souls. They
are beautiful in their inner and outer essence. In their company, I feel
complete and so nourished. The three of us have a lot in common apart from the repartee,
the search for knowledge, love and constant encouragement for each other. We did our first movie night together and they
both watched a movie in a language very alien to them and yet we shared a bond
through the food, the space and the experiences we shared. Time was well spent through the evening and the
date slipped into this morning. We parted to our own homes to get our rest, as
we all knew we had our share of things to do when the sun rises.
The sun rose and I was up before
it did. I could not do my usual physical routine due to the lack of a few hours
of sleep. Yet the body was craving a deep rest. I did my practice of Sudarshan
Kriya. I was initiated to this ten years ago, which is my daily tonic. (To read
more about it I shall put some links below for you read up). After which I did
a guided meditation. (My morning flows like this. Selfishly the first two hours
of the day I give to myself; so, I can give much more of me to others once I
feel nourished). Today the meditation was nice and relaxing however it was not
deep like yesterday. We are constantly told not to expect and not to compare
our experiences with another or with our earlier experiences. Each meditation is
different.
However, I have already told you
the Mind is the boss. So, compare it will. The reason I ramble so much about
this is that to bring home the point that there is a distinct difference
between not having a physical activity, namely yoga (or it could be any other
form of physical activity of your choice), prior to meditating. There is a
method or formula to everything. Some of it can be tweaked, adapted to your convenience
but this progression should be accepted in its true form.
To explain it better, Yoga in
classical Indian thought refers to a way of spiritual practice. It suggests to
us characteristic ways of asanas, mantra, pranayama and sadhana (meditation).
Yoga has five basic elements to it:
Jnana Yoga (Using Knowledge for
self- realisation, namely meditation)
Bhakti Yoga (Devotion seeking
union with the Divine)
Karma Yoga (The service to living
beings)
Raja Yoga (Higher techniques of
mantra and meditation)
Hatha Yoga (Techniques of asanas
and pranayama)
While some schools of thoughts
practice only follow some of these I have been taught to follow all five. There
is a pattern and first is basically a sound body to house a sound mind. To put
it simply Hatha yoga is the first step and then follows the others. To come
back to my point that yoga should be followed by meditation. It is used by the
western world who refute the Vedic existence of yoga to just focus on a sound
body. Or a more desirable body. Even for arguments sake If we do focus on a
more desirable body that focuses on the Kundalini method of yoga, that too has
a purpose. Which is to make the kundalini rise from the second chakra to the
head chakra. Alas, the reverse happens and very often their form of yoga
remains a way to get fixated on the momentary pleasure of the second chakra. An
incomplete process of just yoga without meditation will result from falling out
of practice as they after a while will not see the true reason for physical
element of yoga.
Meditation is the result. Yoga is
the prelude. The mind needs to feel balanced just as much as the body. This is beautifully
explained in the first chapter of the Patanjali Yogasutra, where the basic principle
of yoga is to restrict the mind stuff from taking various forms or distortions.
Hence relating to the first point established yesterday of what Sri Sri often
calls the “The Monkey Mind”.
So yes, friends focus on that
body. Make it beautiful. Do your asanas with dedication and zest. And after you
have sculpted that perfect body through yoga or whatever other form of exercise
of your choice, sit. Sit and relax and breathe. Observe, that Boss Mind.
Through sheer observation meditation will happen. Trust me sooner or later it
will. And some of the days when you have late night which become early mornings
you can slack on the yoga but don’t slack on the meditation J
Yes, as a disclaimer I am a work in
progress and even after ten years I have good days and not so good day but I
take it all in my stride. After all I need a sound mind to create. And that you
will know If you have been following this blog, is also key to my mental wellbeing.
Links to some things mentioned in
the above piece
