Myopia distorts the vision we once knew. Would liberation not long for the clarity of cognitive insight with a healthy dose of somatic and emotional intelligence? Allowing our planetary wisdom to guide us onward rather than fad-like 'yoga' classes sprouting a candy-like romanticism.
Our infantile steps and gestures towards a maturity sometimes flounders. If only we had the wisdom to know the difference before we gather crusade-like euphoria. The billion dollar yoga industry keeps reinventing 'goodies'. Our American magazines with their front page yoga models clinically deconstructs yoga. Every detail, caution and suggestion is offered. Yoga teachers just need to copy and paste classes, philosophy and download the latest and coolest playlist. Easy! Fun!
Studio owners are driven by attendance numbers for the welfare of their studios and client satisfaction is the prime motivation. Regardless of what the ego and shadow brought to the festival of body posturing. Where do we find yoga and how do we differentiate and include the western consumerist habit?
So, here we are teachers and practitioners flaunting our 'research-packaged' know-how. Admiring ourselves and our teachers in guru status. Awaiting the next foreign master guru to arrive and enlighten us.
The journey continues, our shadow looms and so our potential. Africa rests in her poverty and hand-outs. She breathes in her flowing rivers and her majestic mountains. Our wisdom beyond a lifetime.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Modern Yoga Suppliments
Wisdom lingers silently as the body devotees seek liberation. Our mass appeal surrounded by funky playlists and slick choreographed vinyasa sequences. The deepening awareness and realization of Self seems somehow lost among the paraded Lululemons and other trends. Savasana sold as bliss on the latest yoga magazine.
Consciousness connects. Chakras and development seem hip until a lifetime of understanding runs dry in the face of the latest model looking yoga instructor.
How many more trees need to be destroyed for yet another author to explain subtle energy matters. Bless the publishing houses with their acid free, recycled, environmental blah blah paper usage. It was Wilber that alluded to the fact that levels of consciousness is a matter of time, diligence and good old work. States of consciousness come and go whether your a psychopath, fundamentalist or yogi . The momentary post asana bliss parades like enlightenment and ends up in flowery new age gobbly gook with hands in prayer and one love. How conscious is conscious?
Consciousness connects. Chakras and development seem hip until a lifetime of understanding runs dry in the face of the latest model looking yoga instructor.
How many more trees need to be destroyed for yet another author to explain subtle energy matters. Bless the publishing houses with their acid free, recycled, environmental blah blah paper usage. It was Wilber that alluded to the fact that levels of consciousness is a matter of time, diligence and good old work. States of consciousness come and go whether your a psychopath, fundamentalist or yogi . The momentary post asana bliss parades like enlightenment and ends up in flowery new age gobbly gook with hands in prayer and one love. How conscious is conscious?
Monday, April 18, 2011
Practice All Is Coming
Our lives unfolding, whether from an affirmation a guru or a God; we are on the road. Moving, exploring and evolving. The 'yoga elite' shrouded in our causes and acrobatic bliss. We are the new wave of a tradition beyond time and place.
The chanting and love silent, while body-mastery, sweat salutations to poses and exhibition somehow drowned the unmistakable call for spirit.
When every donation based class, yoga teachers with a cause, supporting a cause, developing a cause, eating a cause, advertising and spreading the 'money of love' cause! Oh when will karma come counting beads.
Our joyful yoga systems and businesses harvesting the retreat, training and commercial ventures. The Upanishads quoted for a quick fix. Sutras lining up for shared and diluted meaning. Onward we journey.
The mountains are silent this morning the ocean beating a pulse as the full moon brightens the morning dawn.
The chanting and love silent, while body-mastery, sweat salutations to poses and exhibition somehow drowned the unmistakable call for spirit.
When every donation based class, yoga teachers with a cause, supporting a cause, developing a cause, eating a cause, advertising and spreading the 'money of love' cause! Oh when will karma come counting beads.
Our joyful yoga systems and businesses harvesting the retreat, training and commercial ventures. The Upanishads quoted for a quick fix. Sutras lining up for shared and diluted meaning. Onward we journey.
The mountains are silent this morning the ocean beating a pulse as the full moon brightens the morning dawn.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Far Away
This land drenched and partly drowning. Acid mine water rising and the heavenly gods being more than generous with rain. Our development poses complexity as we deal with our motherland issues.
Yoga, from another motherland finding integration amongst some of our suburbian humanoids. The blessing of our freedom and liberation. The raw fooders are taking hold and the veganites are as convincing and subtle as ever. May our next meal enhance every living being on our planet. Sorry for the microbes though! No mercy ! You die!
The generations continue, we are one and blessed. Among our pain and our struggles. so be it.
Ramana Maharashi once asked, Who am I?
Yoga, from another motherland finding integration amongst some of our suburbian humanoids. The blessing of our freedom and liberation. The raw fooders are taking hold and the veganites are as convincing and subtle as ever. May our next meal enhance every living being on our planet. Sorry for the microbes though! No mercy ! You die!
The generations continue, we are one and blessed. Among our pain and our struggles. so be it.
Ramana Maharashi once asked, Who am I?
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The Land of Knowing Everything
Planetary rhythms, day and night pulse the dance of life. Practicing, enhancing, deepening our understanding of yoga, evolution at our fingertips with miracoluos poses, oops Asana to heal and enlighten. We all know what we need, we have our teachers, guides, our families of 'enlightened asana teachers' Sadly even fewer 'sad' gurus to truly lead us within and beyond ego and narcissism.
Our Hatha Yoga practices brings great joy and stress relief from an increasingly agile and wise world. So where to from here? Seeking on the motherland from the Ganges to an Ashram where we can launch a multi-million dollar Eat, pray and Love campaign. Knowledge and experience will drag us barefooted and chanting through our white, purple or orange robes. Wisdom prayerfully arriving to penetrate our subtle bodies. Clearing us from ignorance and karma. Washed clean with a new name, Krishna or Ram. Our kundalini's awaiting awakening.
Developing our ways of the West infused by the East. The boundaries blur, the ego muddling its pre and post development. I could swear that yoga conversation I overheard was wearing thin on cognitive substance and wallowing in the universal love of flow ever swaying.
May our practice of yoga in this day and age bring our development that speaks of a greater sense and sharing of Self.
Our Hatha Yoga practices brings great joy and stress relief from an increasingly agile and wise world. So where to from here? Seeking on the motherland from the Ganges to an Ashram where we can launch a multi-million dollar Eat, pray and Love campaign. Knowledge and experience will drag us barefooted and chanting through our white, purple or orange robes. Wisdom prayerfully arriving to penetrate our subtle bodies. Clearing us from ignorance and karma. Washed clean with a new name, Krishna or Ram. Our kundalini's awaiting awakening.
Developing our ways of the West infused by the East. The boundaries blur, the ego muddling its pre and post development. I could swear that yoga conversation I overheard was wearing thin on cognitive substance and wallowing in the universal love of flow ever swaying.
May our practice of yoga in this day and age bring our development that speaks of a greater sense and sharing of Self.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Pose and Posture
The southern hemisphere is truly chilling with a seasonal swing. We are hosting the world and a competition, man's ancient old arena for testosterone outlets. Our limbic system seem well and healthy by the look of our stadiums and crowds.
We have a word in one of our languages down here. The word is "gees" and it has been a catch phrase for supporters to gather and bring 'spirit' and engage in the festivities.
Our Spirit has also been hard at work creating infra-structure to support this event. We rally billions of rands yet we move at snails pace when it comes to true development i.e. health, education, housing etc. Local talks hover around how we can now think towards maintaining our 'gees' and again better our country for all who live in it.
In modern day yoga practice their is great divine emphasis on physical postures. Sometimes even these anciently practiced asanas (postures) can become poses. Shapes we make with our bodies and that qualifies as our yoga practice. Those that have flexibility will make the pose true to its front page magazine perfection.
What has that got to do with true yoga i.e. the development of Self or the more general and liberal definition of yoga is the liberation of the Self?
Asking the posture (asana) to bring what kinda liberation exactly? Sure, health is gained and mental clarity is a consequence for some. So we free ourselves from our daily stress in studios across the globe. Yet the slightest dabbling in this ancient philosohy shows us our forefathers were painstakingly developing and experimenting on vast levels of consciousness. Merely for us to reduce our stress in 2010? Possibly.
A common developmental aspect of our ego is that it fluctuates comfortably within its own status quo.
How on earth are we dealing with this old question, how do we liberate ourselves and our fellow from our non liberating ways and wars?
How do we practice our yoga so that we engage more than just striking a perfect aligned pose?
Perhaps as we tussle with our nation building and posing we shall stumble with our complexity and diversity towards a greater vantage point.
We have a word in one of our languages down here. The word is "gees" and it has been a catch phrase for supporters to gather and bring 'spirit' and engage in the festivities.
Our Spirit has also been hard at work creating infra-structure to support this event. We rally billions of rands yet we move at snails pace when it comes to true development i.e. health, education, housing etc. Local talks hover around how we can now think towards maintaining our 'gees' and again better our country for all who live in it.
In modern day yoga practice their is great divine emphasis on physical postures. Sometimes even these anciently practiced asanas (postures) can become poses. Shapes we make with our bodies and that qualifies as our yoga practice. Those that have flexibility will make the pose true to its front page magazine perfection.
What has that got to do with true yoga i.e. the development of Self or the more general and liberal definition of yoga is the liberation of the Self?
Asking the posture (asana) to bring what kinda liberation exactly? Sure, health is gained and mental clarity is a consequence for some. So we free ourselves from our daily stress in studios across the globe. Yet the slightest dabbling in this ancient philosohy shows us our forefathers were painstakingly developing and experimenting on vast levels of consciousness. Merely for us to reduce our stress in 2010? Possibly.
A common developmental aspect of our ego is that it fluctuates comfortably within its own status quo.
How on earth are we dealing with this old question, how do we liberate ourselves and our fellow from our non liberating ways and wars?
How do we practice our yoga so that we engage more than just striking a perfect aligned pose?
Perhaps as we tussle with our nation building and posing we shall stumble with our complexity and diversity towards a greater vantage point.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Global Village Salvation
Towards a tomorrow with emergent themes of light and union. The self in its ego driven and endless territorial battle for occupation with the Self. Man's ever growing wisdom trying desperately, over epochs to express and articulate his significance and ever increasing complexity.
Modern day guru versions arise everywhere. You can purchase a six week enlightenment course from America. And you get $50 discount. What will our fathers from our wisdom traditions have to say?
Divine clarity coming at you. We the 'third world' grovel in our victim hood as we rush to buy the latest Oprah craze/phase. As we practice 'Being One' our collective confusion reigns. Unless of course you so starved from the world around you and your neighbourhood walls are so high you can only see the sky.
God bless the critical mass. As yoga poses form a daily ritual and the slaughtering of all beliefs that aren't abundant continues, we cast our Selves/self mindfully or mindlessly to the intervention of a higher power. Or please just some power.
The breath ever present allowing madness of thought and action and also peace and calm. Surrender the moment as we trek from paradise. Our union gathering. Our village communion.
Modern day guru versions arise everywhere. You can purchase a six week enlightenment course from America. And you get $50 discount. What will our fathers from our wisdom traditions have to say?
Divine clarity coming at you. We the 'third world' grovel in our victim hood as we rush to buy the latest Oprah craze/phase. As we practice 'Being One' our collective confusion reigns. Unless of course you so starved from the world around you and your neighbourhood walls are so high you can only see the sky.
God bless the critical mass. As yoga poses form a daily ritual and the slaughtering of all beliefs that aren't abundant continues, we cast our Selves/self mindfully or mindlessly to the intervention of a higher power. Or please just some power.
The breath ever present allowing madness of thought and action and also peace and calm. Surrender the moment as we trek from paradise. Our union gathering. Our village communion.
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