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The fact is that yoga is open to interpretation. For instance, Patanjali talks of sexual yoga and ifsomeone decides to reduce yoga to just that what can one do? I can‘t blame people for exploiting its open-endedness. After all, in the 1950s when I was in the West trying to propagate yoga it would not have helped if I carried on about spiritualism and philosophy. So I connected with them in whatever way I could --by showing them the physical prowess that yoga brings. I lived only on bread and coffee those days, because there was hardly any vegetarian food available. They saw me teaching eight-nine hours a day on this diet and saw that I still had the strength to throw them over --so I had to stress on physicality. It was only after a decade that I slowly started talking about the intellect and the mind and consciousness. They were ready for it by then. So you see the market-driven yoga industry evolving into something more deep one day?Yoga is being exploited and that is giving it a bad name. But, the spokes of the wheel go down and then they have to come up, don‘t they? (laughs) It can‘t get any worse so it has to get better. Today anyone can be called a yoga teacher but people will see light someday, look for true gurus. - From an Interview with Iyengar shortly before his death in 2014
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Every one of you is a power in yourself. You can influence others. You can radiate joy and peace to millions upon millions of people far and near. You can elevate others even from a long distance. You can transmit your powerful, soul-stirring, beneficial thoughts to others, because you are an image of God, nay, you are God Himself the moment the veil of ignorance enshrouding you is rent asunder. - Swami Sivananda from his book Practical Lessons In Yoga
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Everything in life depends on the choices we make. - Han Shan
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“My father was a violent and paranoid man. He beat my mother, and mistreated his children in terrible ways. When my father pulled up to the house after a day of work, we wouldn’t know whether he’d be Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde. He was a brilliant scientist, but he had so much difficulty that he kept getting fired, or he would quit. There was often little money. We moved every year or so. I attended fourteen different schools. So when I heard about the Buddhist teachings on suffering and the end of suffering, certainly that was interesting.”
- Jack Kornfield, author, meditation teacher and founder of Insight Meditation Center, Barre, MA.
- Jack Kornfield, author, meditation teacher and founder of Insight Meditation Center, Barre, MA.
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It is possible to transform conditioned reactions that do not serve you into unconditioned responsiveness. - Gina Sharpe
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Karma - the effect and impact on our living - is determined by our actions. There are three actions which we take.
1. Action of the body. If we eat properly and exercise properly, avoid alcohol consumption, our bodies will be healthy. Of course this is not the case with most people and so they suffer from a variety of health issues.
2. Action of the emotions. If we are patient, kind, compassionate, forgiving we live in harmony with ourselves and those around us. On the opposite side, people with an abundance of anger and hostility poison themselves and the environment around them driving people away.
3. Action of the mind. If we engage in positive thinking and keep our mind focus on beauty, love, hope, optimism, we feel good as do those around us. However, if cynicism and pessimism rule, we will feel badly, unsafe, fearful.
Karma is our choice.
(feel free to re-post and/or link to your social media)
1. Action of the body. If we eat properly and exercise properly, avoid alcohol consumption, our bodies will be healthy. Of course this is not the case with most people and so they suffer from a variety of health issues.
2. Action of the emotions. If we are patient, kind, compassionate, forgiving we live in harmony with ourselves and those around us. On the opposite side, people with an abundance of anger and hostility poison themselves and the environment around them driving people away.
3. Action of the mind. If we engage in positive thinking and keep our mind focus on beauty, love, hope, optimism, we feel good as do those around us. However, if cynicism and pessimism rule, we will feel badly, unsafe, fearful.
Karma is our choice.
(feel free to re-post and/or link to your social media)
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Here's something I've been thinking about. It's an observation from Lama Thubten Yeshe in his book Becoming Your Own Therapist:
"In Buddhism we're not that interest in talking about the Buddha himself. Nor was he; he wasn't interested in people believing in him, so to this day Buddhism has never encouraged its followers simply to believe in the Buddha. We have always been more interested in understanding human psychology, the nature of the mind. Thus, Buddhist practitioners always try to understand their own mental attitudes, concepts, perceptions and consciousness. Those are the things that really matter."
Studying the life of the Buddha can provide some motivation, but, ultimately, what's really important is using the teaching for self-study, understanding ourselves, our thoughts, our words, our actions. And, when those are unskillful, recognizing the fact and taking corrective action.
"In Buddhism we're not that interest in talking about the Buddha himself. Nor was he; he wasn't interested in people believing in him, so to this day Buddhism has never encouraged its followers simply to believe in the Buddha. We have always been more interested in understanding human psychology, the nature of the mind. Thus, Buddhist practitioners always try to understand their own mental attitudes, concepts, perceptions and consciousness. Those are the things that really matter."
Studying the life of the Buddha can provide some motivation, but, ultimately, what's really important is using the teaching for self-study, understanding ourselves, our thoughts, our words, our actions. And, when those are unskillful, recognizing the fact and taking corrective action.
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In the spiritual lore of India, it is said that God whispered only one word in our ears when he sent us into the world: "Give". Give freely of your time, your talent, your resources; give without asking for anything in return. This is the secret of living in joy and security. - Eknath Easwaran
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Loving kindness and compassion are not synonymous with merely turning the other cheek, of not cursing when cursed. When truth and justice are pushed aside and upright persons are slandered, being able to stand up for what is right is a form of courage and act of loving kindness and compassion. - Hsing Yun
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If you’re determined to think of yourself as limited, fearful, vulnerable, or scarred by past experience, know only that you have chosen to do so. The opportunity to experience yourself differently is always available. —Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche