PEACE LOVE YOGA: Ashtanga in Scandanavia

Burnt To Ash

"All Inquiry is meant for one purpose; to take you experientially into the unknown as efficiently as possible. Once you get there, simply be still because inquiry has delivered you to its destination. The rest is up to Grace. Do not hold onto any knowledge that comes your way. Even the greatest revelations much not be clung to, or you will end up with a head full of memories and a heart empty of substance. The truth is ever new, existing only in the now. The highest truth is beyond knowledge and experience. It is beyond time and space, and beyond beingness, consciousness, and oneness. Just remember that all direct path techniques are meant simply to undermine, to cut away, the one who is performing them. No matter what spiritual path you've walked or what teachings you've followed, they must lead you back to no path and no teaching. A true teaching is like a blazing fire that consumes the itself. The teaching must not only consume you, but consume itself as well. All must be burned to ash, and then the ash must be burned. The, and only then, is the Ultimate realized. True Enlightenment destroys enlightenment. As long as you can refer back to yourself and say, 'I'm enlightened', you not. Enlightenment is authentic only when there is no one left to be enlightened. Even to say 'I am nobody', is one too many. There's a point when you intuitively realize that to be Free you have to give up your attachment to Freedom. You have to quit asking yourself: Is it still there? Am I okay? You have to decide to never look over your shoulder again to see if you're free or if others know you're free. You just have to let yourself burn there - no matter what. This isn't something I can help you with. I can tell you what you need to do, but you have to do it. In the beginning, teachers can help a lot. But the deeper you go, all they can do is point, and clarify, and tell you what you need to do. Only you can take this step. Nobody can push you in to this place."

- Adyashanti

No Expectations

A spirit that lives in this world

and does not wear the shirt of love,

such an existence is a deep disgrace.

Be foolishly in love,

because love is all there is.

There is no way into presence

except through a love exchange.

If someone asks, But what is love?

answer, Dissolving the will.

True freedom comes to those

who have escaped the questions

of freewill and fate.

Love is an emperor.

The two worlds play across him.

He barely notices their tumbling game.

Love and lover live in eternity.

Other desires are substitutes

for that way of being.

How long do you lay embracing a corpse?

Love rather the soul, which cannot be held.

Anything born in spring dies in the fall,

but love is not seasonal.

With wine pressed from grapes,

expect a hangover.

But this love path has no expectations.

You are uneasy riding the body?

Dismount. Travel lighter.

Wings will be given.

Be clear like a mirror

reflecting nothing.

Be clean of pictures and the worry

that comes with images.

Gaze into what is not ashamed

or afraid of any truth.

Contain all human faces in your own

without any judgement of them.

Be pure emptiness.

What is inside that? you ask.

Silence is all I can say.

Lovers have some secrets

that they keep.

(Rumi)

15.4.09

Both times I've ventured to Mysore, India I've been pleasantly surprised regarding the amount of practitioners from Scandinavia. Dare I say the percentage is higher compared to American Ashtangis who make the trip and continue with the practice. Impressive. Which is significant, when in fact, the total population of the Scandinavian countries could easily reside inside many single states back home.

My practice has gone through an adjustment since arriving. All positive. A new internal muscle has been flexed when finding center along with external changes. All in all, it goes back to breath, bandhas, dristi. I've gotten used to the cushiness of practicing in warm humid climates. The joints are juicier. Muscles warm faster. The weather right now in Stockholm is nice, however it's definitely cooler and dryer than I'm used to. My vata is much stronger. Interesting to say the least. But a good thing in the end.

Our external environments will always vacillate and change. Life naturally has it's ups and downs. But with change, can I still tap into the eternal part of myself? The part that is contant and all encompassing? THAT is where the practice of yoga truly begins.

The yoga community I've been exposed to is extremely warm and welcoming. I guess I wouldn't expect anything less. Yogis are usually open and kindhearted no matter what country they are from.

I never, never, never thought I would visit Sweden. Kinda funny. It simply wasn't on my radar of places to see and visit...and, in my mind, I thought it was a big, massive iceberg or something. Yes. I was definitely wrong in my assumptions. Haha. This country is absolutely lovely. Not just the beauty of the environment, but also the beauty and diversity of it's people as well. However, life has a way of offering up little surprises, and what has brought me here goes way beyond what words can describe. Love, laughter, and lightness has breathed new life into me, which has inspired my soul and purpose. All I had to do is be open to the experience.

And thank God, I did.

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PEACE LOVE YOGA

R. Sharath Jois

Burnt To Ash

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Ashtanga in Scandanavia

15.4.09

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