The brazenness that pervades this world can be seen very clearly in the many individual monks who populate it. Some people have never heard of Patanjali. 'Satya - Truthfulness' & 'Asteya - Non-stealing' are just two of the practices he recommends.
It goes without saying that there are situations in life where bottlenecks can drag on for a long time and the risk of untrustworthiness slips into the labelled drawer: inability, low self-esteem, FEAR, lies or whatever the background is rarely highlighted from the outside: The fact is the fact. And this is only one side of the coin.
But: theft in the sacred halls (here of a large yoga centre in Germany)? Some people have even been caught teaching the above topic, Patanajali's sutras. It sounds like an unreal farce: who 'steals' - as happened in this case to a friend & colleague on her property - teachers' guitars and teaching materials in the yoga scene?
Not far from it, this lack in this world in no way sublimates the development of the necessary spiritual abilities to serve from the heart. The omnipotence of the claim to ownership is too great. And those who can't own things still play "Make a wish!" in their old man's shoes.
But how can a joint, mutually respectful field of overall responsibility succeed?
If an individual really took a deep look at himself in the mirror of his soul and faced ALL the truth, this world would probably be a little brighter after a total collapse ...
Do you dare?
Your Kati
*****
And here's something else for you:
Extract from FLOW OF WISDOM - The magazine for holistic health - No. V
THE EIGHT-LEDGED PATH OF YOGA - Patanjali in silence
When the treatise of the spiritual is nestled in the silence, the sequence of verses is joined by a sequence, thehe lightness that is called life. Their effect is everlasting, subtle in their nature.
First chapter - On unification " samadhi padaconsists of 51 sutras, Yoga Paths in Practice - Stages of Yoga Experience
Chapter Two - About the Way " sadhana padaconsists of 55 sutras, The cause of suffering and its unconsciousness and how to overcome it
Chapter Three - On supernatural abilities " vibhuti padaconsists of 55 sutras, exercises of supernatural abilities (siddhi)
Chapter Four - On complete detachment " aivalya padaconsists of 34 sutras, The goal: living in the freedom of complete detachment
The eight limbs of yoga
- Exercises of general action - outer rule (yamas)
- Exercises of special action - inner rule (niyamas)
- Exercises of the body - sitting posture (asana)
- Breathing exercises (pranayama)
- Withdrawal of the senses (prathyhara)
- Collection (dharana)
- Letting go (dhyana)
- Unification (samadhi)
yamas - exercises of general action
- Non-violence (ahimsa)
- Truthfulness (satya)
- Non-standing (asteya)
- pure way of life (brahmacarya)
- Non-possessive grasping (aparigraha
niyamas - exercises of special action (in yoga practice & elsewhere)
- Purity (sauca)
- inner peace (samtosa)
- Asceticism (tapas)
- Study (svadhyaya)
- Devotion to God (isvarapranidhana
The centre of all spiritual progress is found in the nervous system of every human being. What if there was a thread of suffering that supported individual transformation by stimulating the processes? Methods, integrated into everyday life, which enable enlightenment in daily life through self-determined practice routines.
This knowledge, which has been preserved for centuries and taught in secret, has been published for several decades and is accessible to everyone. It is therefore up to the individual to make use of these formulations of powerful exercises written down in verse and to see the results for themselves. Those who want to have an easier time with the essence of Patanjali's wisdom texts can authorise themselves to do svadhyaya - the study, here of the scriptures - using one of the many and varied translations. One might think that this historical figure, who is said to have 'philosophically substantiated and summarised in one text the known schools of yoga at that time', completes his statement in the very first oft-quoted sentence.
But beware, the depth of the instructions is not for the fast person in a fast time, who assumes that mindfulness and mastery of the senses has something to do with superficial touch. Everyone may dare to engage unreservedly with the written word, to look at it and listen to its meaning in silence.
Now yoga begins.
What a powerful sentence! Becoming aware of the meaning of the statement is a timeless and initially probably individual concern, until the 'understanding' is ready to unconditionally engage with the big picture in all its polarity. Yoga means connection, unity and is both path and goal. Interwoven in that web of the all-encompassing, 'to love' means to recognise oneself, one's true nature, the truth of the I AM. This realisation instantly leads to being, as can be read in the Bhagavad Gita, (another) central scripture of Hinduism. In the Yoga Sutras of Patanajali, we are reminded Atha Arriving at the promising moment for which this life has prepared you, the path begins that will lead you to the experience of your true nature: to the state of yoga, to inner light, to pure awareness', as it says in Ralph Skuban's 'Patajali Yogasutra'. Turning inwards from the outside, contemplating, gaining distance from the entanglements of this external world.
Once you start on this path, you will never want to miss it again. The goal is self-realisation. And this is about everything! The unconditional commitment to oneself in everyday life is to immerse oneself in the practice of recognising that everything we do and think influences our self-observation. If we are present, then we are ready to really apply this ancient knowledge.
Yoga is the coming to rest of the constantly changing mental patterns.
However: the Spirit is scattered (citta-viksepa) with all its thoughts is bound to everyday consciousness. Illness, rigidity, doubt, carelessness, laziness, greed, lack of understanding, inability, inconstancy are just some of the many obstacles in our practice.
Coming to rest the Activities of the mind (citta vritti) happens through Exercise (abhyasa) and Detachment (vairagya). Patanjali describes five citta-vrittis: 1) knowledge and 2) error based on direct perception, religious or philosophical traditions and rational conclusions, 3) imagination, which is described as freely associated ideas, 4) memories from past thoughts and experiences and 5) sleep, in which the person no longer has any consciousness.
All these five mental activities can produce happiness or suffering, depending on the person's cognitive ability and attitude, attributed to the superficiality of the mind. Everyday consciousness is unaware of the depth of the mind, the true identity, the essence of the mind - svarupa, the essence identity.
Then the seer rests in himself: that is self-fulfilment.
Patanjali Yogasutra I.3
At other times, when we are in a state of self-realisation, the seer takes the form of the mental patterns: it seems as if he is identical with them.
Patanjali Yogasutra I.4
Everyone is familiar with being bound or even 'dependent' on inner states: it is about wanting and not wanting, the perceptions of fears, worries, anger, rage inherent in human beings, often subject to compulsive thinking in the emotional ups and downs of the perceiver, by no means exempt from judgements that we use quite unconsciously. What we think of as 'I' stands in our way in the extreme. If we visualise a calm lake and enter into the image of the great stillness, we allow ourselves the opportunity to experience and see the inner light that constitutes our blissful nature. Patanjali 'promises' no more and no less.
Sources:
- Eckhardt Wolz-Gottwald: Yoga-Philosophie-Atlas, Verlag Via Nova
- Ralph Skuban: Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, Arkana Verlag
- Yogani: The 8 limbs of yoga, AYP Publishing
- Sukadev Volker Bretz: The Yoga Wisdom of Patanjali for People of Today, published by Via Nova
- Internet: wikipedia, pexels, https://wiki.yoga-vidya.de/Patanjali_Yoga
The article is available at: http://innercircle.akademie-der-weisheit.de/s/akademiederweisheit/der_achtgliedrige_pfad_des_yoga_patanjali_in_der_Stille_Auszug_emagazin-flow-of-wisdom-das-magazin-fuer-ganzheitliche-gesundheit-nr-v-tatkraft-handeln
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