Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11a Part 11b Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15a Part 15b Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21a Part 21b Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26a Part 26b Part 27 Parts 28, 29 and 30 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34
This topic came up somewhere else and I thought I'd put my ten cents worth here too. This is in no way a criticism of anyone in particular but rather a culture.
This practice is about..... when you say this practice, are you referring to ...
1. Yoga,
2 Ashtanga Yoga (the whole eight limbs deal, or
3. the practice of Asana as sequenced into primary, intermediate, Advanced, including of course, drishti, bandha, breath and vinyasa.
According to Yoga Mala...
1. 'Yoga signifies the means to the realization of one's true nature'
2. Ashtanga as eight limbs, to make the mind 'one pointed so that we can see the universal self'
3. Asana, 'the preceding step', before all else 'The method for purifying and strengthening the body is called asana'.
As long as your purifying and strengthening you can think about anything you please no?
Now I personally, happen to use my time on the mat for a kind of moving Vipassana meditation. I let my mind do what it wants through standing with just some noting on my part. By the series proper it's settled and I'll observe where it settles, an emotion perhaps, some sensation or maybe it just settles on the breath in a kind of Zenish no mind type way. This works for me.
I'm not so concerned with 1 and 2 above. I'm quite happy with employing the Western Philosophical tradition for 1. It's organically a part of me and makes more sense to me to stick with the devil I know, rather than take on another. Likewise for 2. I'm brought up in a Christian (though I'm not practicing or a 'believer') and Western philosophical tradition that deals well enough with most of the other eight limbs. Where It's lacking I've always had some Western Buddhist leanings.
So, No, for me the practice isn't necessarily about focusing the mind or reigning in thoughts though I might choose to employ the practice that way.
But you know what, this practice, it's about pretty much whatever I want it to be about. Ashtanga, it's out there, authorial authority died a death a long time ago.
Who knows what the Korunta was about before it was taught to Krishnamacharya (assuming it was) or what it became about when he taught it to Jois. Surely it became about something else when he turned it into what we find in Yoga Mala. And is that what the practice is about to Sharath or is it different in his mind, we shall see in time. It certainly became about something else to the Western students who brought it back with them from Mysore with their Western paradigms and preconceptions. Notice the focus on anatomy, or the post Freudian/Jungian/Kleinian/Lacanian discourse that gets woven into talk about the practice. The influence of New Age philosophies, NLP, cognitive theory .........
In the end a practice is practiced. It's practiced by somebody and this is a hard, intense, demanding practice. Anyone who practices it six days a week, year in year out, earns the right to determine for themselves what the hell this practice is about. And you just know that what it's about to you, is going to change over time. Hey, you might even go through a phase where it isn't necessarily about anything, but you love and enjoy it just the same.
This topic came up somewhere else and I thought I'd put my ten cents worth here too. This is in no way a criticism of anyone in particular but rather a culture.
This practice is about..... when you say this practice, are you referring to ...
1. Yoga,
2 Ashtanga Yoga (the whole eight limbs deal, or
3. the practice of Asana as sequenced into primary, intermediate, Advanced, including of course, drishti, bandha, breath and vinyasa.
According to Yoga Mala...
1. 'Yoga signifies the means to the realization of one's true nature'
2. Ashtanga as eight limbs, to make the mind 'one pointed so that we can see the universal self'
3. Asana, 'the preceding step', before all else 'The method for purifying and strengthening the body is called asana'.
As long as your purifying and strengthening you can think about anything you please no?
Now I personally, happen to use my time on the mat for a kind of moving Vipassana meditation. I let my mind do what it wants through standing with just some noting on my part. By the series proper it's settled and I'll observe where it settles, an emotion perhaps, some sensation or maybe it just settles on the breath in a kind of Zenish no mind type way. This works for me.
I'm not so concerned with 1 and 2 above. I'm quite happy with employing the Western Philosophical tradition for 1. It's organically a part of me and makes more sense to me to stick with the devil I know, rather than take on another. Likewise for 2. I'm brought up in a Christian (though I'm not practicing or a 'believer') and Western philosophical tradition that deals well enough with most of the other eight limbs. Where It's lacking I've always had some Western Buddhist leanings.
So, No, for me the practice isn't necessarily about focusing the mind or reigning in thoughts though I might choose to employ the practice that way.
But you know what, this practice, it's about pretty much whatever I want it to be about. Ashtanga, it's out there, authorial authority died a death a long time ago.
Who knows what the Korunta was about before it was taught to Krishnamacharya (assuming it was) or what it became about when he taught it to Jois. Surely it became about something else when he turned it into what we find in Yoga Mala. And is that what the practice is about to Sharath or is it different in his mind, we shall see in time. It certainly became about something else to the Western students who brought it back with them from Mysore with their Western paradigms and preconceptions. Notice the focus on anatomy, or the post Freudian/Jungian/Kleinian/Lacanian discourse that gets woven into talk about the practice. The influence of New Age philosophies, NLP, cognitive theory .........
In the end a practice is practiced. It's practiced by somebody and this is a hard, intense, demanding practice. Anyone who practices it six days a week, year in year out, earns the right to determine for themselves what the hell this practice is about. And you just know that what it's about to you, is going to change over time. Hey, you might even go through a phase where it isn't necessarily about anything, but you love and enjoy it just the same.
4 comments:
'Anyone who practices it six days a week, year in year out, earns the right to determine for themselves what the hell this practice is about. And you just know that what it's about to you, is going to change over time. Hey, you might even go through a phase where it isn't necessarily about anything, but you love and enjoy it just the same'
I love this passage, it makes sense also for other things, like the article I am trying to write about Muslims who skip prayers, but say religion is important to them, anyway, yes, this is a 'de certeau' moment for me, thank you grimmly
Woooooah. When I said "about" I was not referring to what it means.
I was referring to how it works.
That the meaning is personal and changeable is not controversial!
That the way it works is by focusing the mind is also not controversial. Tristana, yo. It's just a mechanism. It's how it all comes together and runs as a system.
The comment had nothing to do with authority or texts.
Thanks M this is carried on in the comments section here.
http://www.insideowl.com/article/diy-and-not-so-private-minds
"it isn't necessarily about anything, but you love and enjoy it just the same"
This is it for me. Keep it simple.
Thanks Grimmly.
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