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Sunday, January 17, 2010

Keep at It




"Anavasthitattva: A person affected with anavasthitattva has by hard work come within sight of reality. Happy and proud of his achievements he becomes slack in his practice (sadhana). He has purity and great power of concentration and has come to the final cross-roads of his quest. Even at this last stage continuous endeavor is essential and he has to pursue the path with infinite patience and determined perseverance and must never show slackness which hampers progress on the path of God realization. He must wait until divine grace decends upon him. It has been said in the Kathopanishad: 'The Self is not to be realized by study and instruction, nor by subtlety of intellect, nor by much learning, but only by him who longs for Him, by the one whom He chooses. Verily to such a one the Self reveals His true being'"
-B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Yoga, 42nd paragraph of the Introduction.

Don't give up on Yoga!

It can easily happen: we feel some benefit from yoga, and then we slack off. Don't give up! Continue, or go back to your Practice.

This obstacle is for someone who has gone some distance on the path of Yoga, and then starts to slack off! Becoming slack in the Practice is an obstacle in the Path of Yoga.

Why would a person who has come so far begin to slack off?

I think that it might be because nobody can see the big picture when it comes to their own life. I know I don't have that kind of sight... We know where we've been, but we can't entirely see where we are going.

It's hard to know what's just around the corner when I'm still on this side of it. I might say to myself that I'm doing very well with the Yoga. And I might compare myself with other people I know and things that I've read and I might feel comfortable with where I am right now. To go further might take me into unknown and therefore scary territory. It is much more comfortable in my minds eye to stay with the pack than it is to go off on my own into places I have never been. However the notion that I ever was with the pack is suspicious to me because I may have just assumed that we were stepping similarly without really knowing.

I need to keep going in spite of my resistance and fear which were constructed out of the building blocks of illusion, anyway. Also, there is no way of going back. Wherever I am now is just where I am. And I need to keep going just to see, and to take my experience where I need to go.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

2 comments:

YogaforCynics said...

I'm in at least my second incarnation as a yogi...I'm actually not being metaphysical...I started practicing in 2001, was totally into it, it was all I talked about, and then I stopped after a year or so. Then I started a bunch more times, never getting very far. So, after a while, I'd think about starting up again, only to think "what's the point if I'm just gonna sweat my ass off through a few classes and then end up not going again?"

But, then, two and a half years ago, I gave it another try, just at a time when I was making some other big changes in my life, and it's just kept growing and growing since then. I guess I was just ready.

I think the key is to practice today. Then tomorrow. Since, when I'm having a hard time with it, in one way or other, or start to feel it's taking up time and money and not doing much for me anymore, the last thing I need is to think about keeping the practice going for the rest of my life. All I need to worry about is practicing today.

elderyogini said...

"I need to keep going in spite of my resistance and fear which were constructed out of the building blocks of illusion, anyway. Also, there is no way of going back. Wherever I am now is just where I am. And I need to keep going just to see, and to take my experience where I need to go."

Yes, I love these posts delving into the intro. to Light on Yoga, Brooks.

Just what I needed to hear today.

At some point there is no going back. SCARY! and COMFORTING at the same time. These thoughts help me accept the path as well as the practice....as Jay says, for today anyway.