Our journey through life can be compared to traveling through a vast and varied landscape full of all kinds of wonders, enjoyment, dangers, suffering, heartache, light and darkness, clear and cloudy skies.
On our journey we come across many different people and other living entities, all kinds of landscapes, experiences, challenges, fearful, comfortable and happy situations. Sometimes things go our way and sometimes they don’t.
There are times in our lives when it feels like we are walking through thick mud and everything is a hardship, while at other times life is like skipping through flowery meadows where the sun is warm and the breeze refreshing. Sometimes we feel confident that we know where we are going and what direction to take in life, while at other times we feel confused about what direction we should take.
So what does life’s journey have to do with yoga? After all isn’t yoga just a type of physical exercise? Absolutely not! It is an enlightening path that helps one successfully travel the path of life itself. A path that offers a refuge from the storms of life; a path where the rugged mountains become small easily climbed hills; a path that enables us to integrate, harmonize, and surcharge with deep meaning and purpose, every aspect of our life, even the seemingly mundane.
The first step in one’s yoga wisdom journey is to understand the yoga view of the self, to understand our essence and thus answer the question, “Who am I?”
According to the yoga view of the self, you are made of an energy completely distinct from matter. You, the self (known as atma), are an indivisible unit of the element known as life. Your body is made of the element matter, but you, the atma, are a spark of the element life. So the answer to the question “Who/what are you?” is: You, the self, are a particle of the element life. You are presently within a material body. You are temporarily possessing and using that body.
With an understanding of the yoga view of the self, the yoga practitioner can begin to apply yoga’s ancient wisdom for modern living.
For a person who cultivates yoga wisdom or true knowledge, the results are inner peace, satisfaction, patience, respect for others, freedom from envy, compassion, joyfulness, remembrance of one's spiritual identity, freedom from the fear of death, freedom from anxiety and depression, and so on.
Yoga’s ancient wisdom thus provides practical answers to the personal and social issues of today such as racism, sectarianism, hatred and conflict, fear of death, the causes of crime, finding real love, how to have a peaceful, progressive society, etc.
Our best wishes for your personal spiritual journey. If we can assist in any way, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
