The Foundation of Yoga What is the ground of Yoga? What is it that makes yoga unique and special setting it apart from all the other activities we perform on the course of the day or throughout our lives? According to Patanjali, Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. yoga cittavrtti nirodaha Thru…
Part 7: How do we prevail? “Aath pinde, tat brahmade [As the world is inside, so it is outside.]” (Manduka Upanishad) Self knowledge, the equal of universal knowledge in most of India, is one of the most prized areas of knowledge. Various sciences and systems have been created just for this purpose. One of the…
I’m going to start this in a very easy way with a discussion of the various levels of education and how this is related to yoga teachers and teaching. I will make broad reference to the kinds of yoga discussed in the Gita, which in many ways parallels the upayas (means of liberation) outlined by…
For Markji! It seems to be very easy these days to point fingers at what is not yoga, I’ve also caught myself doing this at times. These attitudes become in vogue for a little while to criticize this or that and for a culture to have a look at itself. What I see is western…
Yoga was once shared among friends. Someone would wander off to India or some ashram, blowing everyone’s minds in the mean time, and then come back and perhaps start teaching a few hesitant friends in someone’s living room. That was before the Yoga Alliance stepped in to “promote and support the integrity and diversity of…
“When (the yogi’s consciousness) pervades all things by (his) desire to precieve, then why speak much? He will experience it for himself.” ~Spandakarika~ One of my goals in writing about Indian philosophy is to clear up some of the New Age misunderstandings, which, though they carry some grain truth, are only adding fuel to the…
A friend recently asked me how the stones or whatever remedies work? I partially answered this question in a previous blog post, but I wanted to give a more direct answer to this question. I have been studying astrology for only a few years. I’ve always had a skeptical rational mind. Most of my life…
Traditional culture goes by a lot of names these days. Every region has their own ancient practice. The Americas have their shamans connecting man to nature and the cosmos thru fire and smoke rituals, chanting, and vision questing. China followed the Doa and yin yang with the precise awareness of balance that found expression in…
Background: I was recently asked, rather last minute, to speak at a conference that was going on at Banaras Hindu University (BHU), in Varanasi India. The topic of the conference was “Recent advances and the role of basic sciences in Ayurvedic Medicine.” As India seeks to align it’s tradition knowledge with the way we do…
I’ve met many people during my travels in Canada and abroad who sincerely want to learn yoga. They ask me what kind of yoga they should look for? They ask this question not because there is a lack of yoga classes around, but because even without any experience in yoga, they can see thru the…
As many of you know, when it comes time for me to make some money I turn to construction work. Philosophy, holistics and yoga just don’t pull in the big bucks like the brochures promised. I’m good at construction. They hire me to lead a couple or a couple dozen guys thru jobs that are…