Are you European, Asian, African, American, Australian…? Are you a man or a woman? Are you your nationality, skin colour, occupation, your language? Are you your name? Are you your age? Are you your body? If you look at your one finger, is that you?
We are so full of miseries because we have identified ourselves with the material world. Therefore we are unhappy. Anxieties and fearfulness are due to our misidentifying with the material world.
The ancient Vedic wisdom texts are teaching us, as soon as one understands his/her identity, then immediately he/she becomes happy. Our real identity is covered. Our hearts know the truth but it’s if like our hearts were covered by a veil of dust or of darkness of misunderstanding.
ceto-darpana-mãrjanam • mãrjanam means “cleanse” and darpanam means “mirror”. The heart is a mirror. Our real identity is covered. One has to cleanse his/her heart. There are different processes recommended for cleansing the heart. There are different paths. When we start to search for the “I”, “Am I this finger? ” “Am I my name? “, that is meditation. Real meditation means concentrating all the senses this way, inquiring where is that “I”? However this kind of meditation process is not easy. One must truly control the senses.
The sense control [pratyahara] is one step in the eight process yoga system. Mastering all the different steps is extremely difficult and may take a few life times. In the west we very often start from the āsana or the physical postures, even if they seem challenging at times, they are still much easier to master eventually than the other steps like controlling the mind.
There are other paths too and a true seeker who’s enthusiastic and his/her intentions are pure and humble, will be exposed to those when he/she is ready.
For the time being for all of us, including myself, my dear friends, I’m offering some free yoga ãsana in zoom live. In these times when we are experiencing extra challenge, to look after our bodies is more important than ever before. Where the body goes, the mind flows. Detoxing our body and making it gradually stronger we clear the space for the mind to follow. Those of you who have sat down to sit still after an ãsana practice have experienced how much easier it is to calm the mind when the body has been first calmed down with some conscious movement.
YOGA “Where the body goes, the mind flows” in Zoom Live (free offerings):
~ Tuesdays in Finnish 18:30 Helsinki time [EET]
~ Wednesdays in English 6pm EET | 5pm CET (Paris/Berlin) |
4pm UK | 8am PST (California) | 10am Mexico
Email me to participate: sanna@skyogini.com
Love
OM ~
/Sanna
