There are at least three good reasons to listen to Gil Fronsdal's last talk Blasphemy of 2012-09-16 from the highly appreciated Audiodharma-Podcast:
The subject is right now relevant...
... and yet timeless;
He talks about Kalama Sutta even more detailled than I did in my very first article.
Go hear it! :-)
Technorati Tags: Audiodharma, Buddha
Know your enemy and yourself and you don‘t have to fear the outcome of 100 battles. - Sun Tzu The art of war
Today I want to talk about one of our most dangerous enemies: diversion.
Do you recognise this too? You get up with élan (let‘s do big things) and... in the evening you find yourself being tired, entangled in thousand small things, which were all sooo urgent and sooo demanding to be done (or which were just attracting ;-) and which in the end only distract you from your main target?
Emails which need to be checked, the phone call which took longer than expected, the little time you spent on television (One has to be informed!) or only five minutes Doctor‘s Diary (or rather Doctor‘s diarrhoe ;-)?), a short chat with the neighbour, the prolonged coffee brake with a colleague, the interesting headline in the magazine lying open on the table... and the day is over again, your motivation of this morning history and your great plans have to wait (again) for tomorrow.
How many of your targets survive the daily haze?
How many do shine through the dust of oblivion?
And now I am not only talking about yoga related targets but also about commonplace topics!
The solution: focus!
What does that mean? What kind of processes are behind this martially sounding noun? The following 5 steps:
1.- First of all make a list of all your options! List everything what is on your mind right now.
2.- Important: chose only one thing!
3.- Of course, your choice is decisive and should not entirely be based on yesterday‘s priorities or on the apparently important things of today. Use the power of your subconsciousness and use your intuition. If your intuition happens to be off duty today ;-) ask yourself some of these helping questions:
- Does this really have to be done?
- And if yes, does it have to be right now?
- What would happen if I didn‘t do it now?
- Do I personally have to do this or can I delegate it somehow?
- What exactly is my ambition?
- Does that what I am about to do help to get to/reach my target?
4.- Ok, now that you have chosen one, stick to it, do it and don‘t lose track of it. If you have problems staying focused, read my next article on simple concentration techniques.
5.- That implies to actively reject absolutely anything else for the time being! You have to remember this: focus means concentration, condensation and reduction of choices. Practise contentment and concentration, focus on one aim and everything will be all right.
I can hear you already: "for a certain time"... how long exactly is a certain time? I don‘t live in a monastery, I have to get done a thousand things!. I can understand your anger - but please give me time till one of my next articles!
However, until then I recommend a simple but essential test: analyse your current situation and compare it to your target-picture.We should do this often and regularly and especially when we don‘t know any more how close we have come to the realisation of our goals - or when we have forgotten parts of our objectives and accordingly, as a matter of fact, have lost most of the vigour and our daily focus.
You're still not there, then keep on!
Have you finally arrived at last? Check it off and immediately set the next goal!
And once again: all this does not only go for your yoga practice (e.g. 2 asanas daily / 30 minutes meditation / concentration - practice / whatever) but for everything you are aiming for- from staying calm and composed in the course of the day to exercise more or eating less sweets... your objectives are only stages on your way, they are to be reached in this live and should not remain idealised dreams.
In my previous article I stated that daily practice is essential.
Do you really mean "daily"? Every single day? You are kidding, aren’t you? Sometimes you just don’t feel like doing yoga… or you have something better to do!
Yes, I am really serious about it :-) every day – no excuse, no exception!
Is this actually realistic? Is it even possible to do something on a daily basis for a lifetime?
Yes, I think so! Because we do a lot of things every day: eating, drinking, washing (about dental hygiene we’ve talked already :-)… why can yoga not be one of these things?! Why do we never ask ourselves, do I really have to eat today again?! That’s torture – maybe I don’t fancy eating today! but at the same time question our yoga practice again and again? That was subject of my previous article.
Is it possible that only you are so extreme?
I honestly don’t think so.
Swami Shivananda Saraswati said once that he did not even want to miss a single day of his yoga practice due to the profound physical and psychical effects on him.
And H. David Coulter explains in his unique book Anatomy Of Hatha Yoga, why this makes sense even from the anatomical point of view – more on this in my next article.
In addition I know several other absolutely normal people who have been doing yoga on a daily basis for years.
Uncountable factors can be the reason for an imbalance: daily stress, exhaustion, constant information overflow, inattentive and inadequate diet, environmental toxins, not enough exercise and so on. The second thermodynamic principle - entropy increases in every system – is also true for our life… and eventually, sooner or later, when our body gets completely out of balance and we die, entropy will win this match.
Therefore: every attempt to counterbalance this chaos tendency by doing yoga eases the pain, heals wounds and restores - magically! - the order and brings us peace, room and time.
What exactly my daily yoga practice looks like is another question. It depends on long-term goals and is constantly adapted to current and urgent needs – no room for boredom here ;-). The main thing is: daily!
Thus follow the example of the turtle in Achill’s tale: take one step every day, no matter how small or slow, and you will cope with even the greatest challenges in your life. Each little daily step makes sure you realise that you are still alive, that you do something for your life and that you don’t - never ever – give up. This will give you physical and psychic strength: you confirm every day anew that you can, that you want and that you know how to and that you act accordingly. Base your yoga practice on this foundation and you will move forward with assurance: each day anew, each day more intensive.
Take your daily yoga practice like the elixir of Life – every single day!
Technorati Tags: daily, H. David Coulter, Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Each of us has a daily routine. These are not exactely the most interesting things in our life but we see them as absolutely necessary.
A banal exemple: dental hygiene. Who can say that dental hygiene transports one with joy? Trivial? Definitely! But at the same time a necessity - so we just do it and that’s it!
Some of these things seem to become a daily torture ("Mom, do I REALLY have to brush my teeth? Today again?" :-)) but they make sure that we function in an optimal way and help to avoid problems in the long run. And so what we finally learn are long-term strategies for a better life
Optimal is relative, and also subjective, so there are slight differences in our daily routines. That is why some of us function better than others.
Why this introduction?
In order to formulate an idea: yoga should not only be a daily practice of a special group of people (yogis) but should be seen as normal as dental hygiene. Too often yoga is considered to be only a weekend-activity or postponed for a free time or even seen as wellness programme!
Therefore you should not forget that yoga - like other inner methods - is a method to preserve the physical, mental and lastly spiritual hygiene, even if nowadays it is seen as a rather exotic sport.
Every omission or neglection of yoga practice will lead to immediate harm, which will be noticed only later, when we feel the toothache.
Of course, every analogy has its limits therefore I don't want to generalise. Apart from the obvious differences between yoga and let's say dental hygiene (!) there are some more interesting parallels:
Both should be done on a daily basis. Daily yoga practice brings you higher benefits than only one or two sessions per week. Who would think of brushing his teeth only twice a week? With yoga we tend to practise even more seldom… maybe also because our teeth – as part of our outward appearance – seem to be more important to us than our inner health… or just because we have been cleaning our teeth for so long. Please remember: our daily routine has the most powerful impact on our wellbeing.
At the beginning both are exhausting, a torture! Like parents who have to answer the question "Do I have to brush my teeth today?" again and again – I, as a yoga teacher, always have to deal with the typical beginner question: How long do I have to practice technique X? Being an adult we do that technique X gladly… especially when we get the results immediately, so that we don’t have to do it anymore after this ;-)
Both take time! We spend so much time on so many things which on the long run will not effect us as essentially as yoga will – let’s think about that!
Both sound like must-do, drill, discipline, and force! Maybe only at the beginning (and every beginning is difficult!)… I believe it is rather a question of how we see it (see next point)
Forgotten or neglected, both will inevitably lead to pain. Deep, pure pain! This is motivation, isn’t it ;-)?
Both are easy to carry out! Everybody can brush his teethes and also everybody can practise yoga! Maybe not everything right from the beginning but all the techniques are designed in such a way that really everybody can practise them according to his level and with efficiency.
Therefore: integrate yoga in your daily programme, in your daily routine. Transform yoga into something normal… at least as normal as dental hygiene ;-)
Technorati Tags: daily
Yoga - what for? Why bending / sitting / chanting?!
This is a good question! You put effort and invest your time in it - and you are craving for both, since you're searching for methods! :-) - so you want the best on the market for it! ;-)
What do you get? Exactly:
Yoga gives you through this also an indirect gain: the balance that we got through the orientation within! We are driven too often too much outside - that screams sooner or later of a balance.
"(...)
Rely not on the teacher/person, but on the teaching.
Rely not on the words of the teaching, but on the spirit of the words. Rely not on theory, but on experience.
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
Do not believe anything because it is spoken and rumored by many.
Do not believe in anything because it is written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees
with reason and is conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
(...)"
One of the countless translations of the Kalama Sutta of Buddha.
Rely only on your experience from your own practice. It shows you what you have actually achieved. It gives you a direct feedback. It is tangible.
Reflect continuously about your practice. Do not go on autopilot, do not fall into daily routine. Better stay in the freshness, the curiosity, the magic of the first yoga lesson.
Stay alert!
Do not resign!
Do not reject as a matter of principle; be open (minded) but do not accept blindly.
By means of yoga you should open your eyes and strengthen your ability to discern. Do not use the eyes and discernment of others - with all due respect - use your own abilities.
Trust in yourself!
Technorati Tags: Buddha, Kalama Sutta
