"You should not be practicing to have a 'good' practice, but instead to keep steadiness within yourself. Practice happily regardless of whether it is 'good' or not. Sometimes some postures will not be possible, but when you accept the good and the bad and everything becomes equal for you, that is yoga."
- R. Sharath Jois
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."
Mysore, India “You need not get at it, for you are it. It will get at you, if you give it a chance. Let go your attachment to the un...
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"Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could."
I'm really going to have to check him out. I really liked his comment about yoga studios being like empty churches if we don't practice correctly or only focus on the body. Also, he cleared up how to properly go about Drishti. I didn't compltely understand until he broke it down like this. Thanks for the video! :)
I read the book this talk is based on, and it really resonated deeply with me and helped me to articulate and relate to the practice of yoga. He's very talented intellectually, spiritually, as a writer and practitioner. I thank you for posting the videos-all of which I've watched by now! He's got a very neat thing going in Toronto, and I'm glad people all over are being exposed to his insight. And, thank you for producing such a lovely and informative blog. I've been practicing Ashtanga for a year, and it's at the center of my life. I just love it, and love reading about other people's experiences. And you have such a lovely practice! I would be proud if my practice ever were to have the grace that yours does. Take care and be well,
Thank you, Danielle. I'm always pleasantly surprised when someone tells me they like my blog! I haven't read any of Michael Stone's books yet, but they are definitely on my list! Thank you, again.
4 Insightful Comments:
I'm really going to have to check him out. I really liked his comment about yoga studios being like empty churches if we don't practice correctly or only focus on the body. Also, he cleared up how to properly go about Drishti. I didn't compltely understand until he broke it down like this. Thanks for the video! :)
I read the book this talk is based on, and it really resonated deeply with me and helped me to articulate and relate to the practice of yoga. He's very talented intellectually, spiritually, as a writer and practitioner. I thank you for posting the videos-all of which I've watched by now! He's got a very neat thing going in Toronto, and I'm glad people all over are being exposed to his insight. And, thank you for producing such a lovely and informative blog. I've been practicing Ashtanga for a year, and it's at the center of my life. I just love it, and love reading about other people's experiences. And you have such a lovely practice! I would be proud if my practice ever were to have the grace that yours does.
Take care and be well,
Danielle
Glad you enjoyed it. I did too! He has a gift for communicating many of these concepts with clarity. :))
Thank you, Danielle. I'm always pleasantly surprised when someone tells me they like my blog! I haven't read any of Michael Stone's books yet, but they are definitely on my list! Thank you, again.
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