Thursday, December 30, 2010

A toast to the new year!

According to yoga, the purpose of the whole or creation is to give us a context for understanding what we are and what we are not.... A person who experiences kaivalya see prakrti, the material world, simply as it is, with no meaning beyond that... 
By praticing asanas we become more flexible; by practicing pranayama, we gain control of our breath. It is similar with kaivalya: something gradually happens that is out of our control....
There are two forces within us: one comes from our old conditioning and habits; the other is our new conditioning that develops out of our changing behavior. As long as these two forces are operating, the mind is swinging from one to the other. But when the old force disappears, the mind no longer swings back and forth. We have reached another state, and it is felt as a continuum. 

-The Hear of Yoga, T. K. V. Desikachar

I was sitting back enjoying my son and his friend's independent play, while I read this last work.
It is cool to think that we can have the power to control our relationships to things and to people in our lives. The secret is simple, and yet difficult. All that I have to do is to understand who I am, and who I am not. I am not my job, my car, my stuff, etc... I am not in control of what others think that I am...
I am my own person, independent and yet interconnected. I am lucky to start this process of reflection:)

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